National Zoo Training Films Collection
name: label: Creator
content: National Zoological Park (U.S.)
topic: label: Topic
content: Training
label: Topic
content: Health/Industrial Safety
label: Topic
content: Industrial films
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This collection of safety films was transferred to the Archives Center by the Smithsonian National Zoo.  No records of the transfer exist.
creator: label: Creator
content: National Zoological Park (U.S.)
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Zoo Training Films Collection
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: This collection of safety films comes from the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington D.C.  Presumably these films were acquired during the 1970s and shown to employees at the Zoo as a means of instilling safe practices within the workplace.  Their specific history and background is unknown.  However, each film provides full credits and the distributors and producers are listed.

The training film serves the purpose of educating employees, reflecting the interests of the corporation, and encouraging safe practices within the workplace.  A subgenre of training films, is a category dealing solely with safety issues.  The safety film is supposed to promote safe living and the elimination of harmful or dangerous working conditions.  Originally made by corporations such as auto-manufacturers, railroad companies, and insurance businesses, these films tend to communicate the interests of the corporation versus that of the employee.  Frequently, these films tend to place the blame on the victim, shifting any responsibility for accidents away from management and onto the worker.  As a result the safety film focuses more on the accidents that occur than the actual safety issues.  Often the film presents a melodramatic story of an employee's tragic accident, and selectively illustrates the pain and suffering undergone in the workplace.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 15 Film reels
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1968-1981
custodhist: label: Ownership and Custodial History
content: Transferred by the National Zoo to the Archives Center in 1999.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0685
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Film reels
label: Type
content: Motion pictures (visual works)
label: Type
content: Training films
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: 1 series.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Brandy E. Hughes, August 2002.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Motion pictures (visual works)
label: Genre/Form
content: Training films
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Fifteen films acquired by the National Zoo and presumably used for training employees how to practice safe work habits and avoid accidents. Each film provides full credits and the distributors and producers are listed.