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A People's Convention

African American Museum

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .

Object Details

Created by

Union Films, 1946 - 1953

Produced by

Carl Marzani, American, 1912 - 1994

Directed by

Max Glandbard, American, 1915 - 1987

Subject of

Progressive Party, American, 1948 - 1955
Paul Robeson, American, 1898 - 1976
Henry Wallace, American, 1888 - 1965

Composed by

Serge Hovey, American, 1920 - 1989

Owned by

Pearl Bowser, American, 1931 - 2023

Caption

"This fifteen-minute documentary provides an invaluable record of the Progressive Party’s gathering even as it combines “people’s songs” with film in an innovative, almost experimental manner. As with several earlier Union Films productions, there is some effort to theatricalize events. A People’s Convention has a protagonist, “Joe,” who is attending the convention and is shown in both the introductory and final shot, while making several appearances over the course of the picture. His presence, however, is quickly subsumed by the desire to document the convention, which was all the more urgent given the distortions that were being generated by the news media."
Musser, Charles. "A People’s Convention (Union Films, 1948)." Charles Musser. Accessed May 12, 2016. http://www.charlesmusser.com/?page_id=1672.

Description

A documentary short with the title "A People's Convention." It consists of a single reel of black-and-white 16mm acetate film with optical sound. It was produced by Union Films and covers the 1948 Progressive Party Convention in Philadelphia, PA.

Credit Line

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Pearl Bowser

Date

1948

Object number

2012.79.1.1.1a

Restrictions & Rights

No Known Copyright Restrictions
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

Type

sound films
black-and-white films (visual works)
short subjects
16mm (photographic film size)

Medium

acetate film

Dimensions

Duration: 15 min.
Physical extent (film): 600 ft

Place filmed

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America

See more items in

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Collection title

Pearl Bowser Collection

Classification

Time-based Media - Moving Images

Data Source

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Topic

African American
Film
Folk (Music)
Mass media
Politics

Metadata Usage

CC0

Link to Original Record

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd52d70b541-e540-4d19-8a59-812b9cfeb89d

Record ID

nmaahc_2012.79.1.1.1a

Discover More

Colorful film frame with rainbow background and text, "FOCUS Adjust Sound Level"

AVMPI-Media

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