April 22, 2010
Four men and a building: Help identify this film about Sieg Hall
Editor’s Note: The UW Audio Visual Services Materials Library has more than 1,200 reels of film from the late 1940s through the early 1970s, documenting life at the University through telecourses, commercial films and original productions. Some of the short films are easily identifiable, but many more remain mysteries. Who shot these films and why? Can you help answer those questions? Faculty and staff can use the comments field at the end of the story to send ideas. Those outside the University can e-mail filmarc@u.washington.edu.
In this week’s Lost & Found Film, four men are touring the site where Sieg Hall is being built in 1959. We get individual close-ups of each man looking around as if surveying the work. What are they thinking? Do they know that this will come to be one of the ugliest buildings on campus? OK, that’s not really what we want to know.
The two-plus-minute clip is taken from footage of Sieg Hall, originally known as the General Engineering Building, when it was under construction. The majority of the film documents the construction of the hall replete with bulldozers, excavators, and men hard at work. This particular clip is a bit of a mystery because it shows the group of gentlemen touring the hall and one can assume that they are involved with the project, but Film Archive Specialist Hannah Palin doesn’t have any information about who these people are or how they are connected to Sieg Hall. She also doesn’t know why the film was taken or who might have shot it. Any information would be most welcome.
Palin is still looking for information on last week’s film, ASUW Elections. Be sure to post a comment if you have can help.
