Ernie Smith Jazz Film Collection
name: label: Performer
content: Basie, Count, 1904-1984
label: Collector
content: Smith, Ernie
label: Performer
content: Webster, Ben
label: Performer
content: Armstrong, Louis, 1901-1971
label: Performer
content: Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974
label: Performer
content: Fitzgerald, Ella, 1917-1996
label: Performer
content: Goodman, Benny (Benjamin David), 1909-1986
label: Performer
content: Jamal, Ahmad, 1930-
label: Performer
content: Robinson, Bill, 1878-1949
label: Performer
content: Davis, Miles
label: Names
content: Apollo Theatre (New York, N.Y.)
place: label: Place
content: Harlem (New York, N.Y.) -- 20th century
topic: label: Topic
content: Tap dancing -- 1930-1970
label: Topic
content: Motion pictures and music -- 1930-1970
label: Topic
content: Dancing in motion pictures, television, etc. -- 1930-1970
label: Topic
content: Television and music -- 1930-1970
label: Topic
content: Jazz -- 20th century -- United States
label: Topic
content: Jazz musicians -- 1930-1970
label: Topic
content: Jazz dance -- 1930-1970
label: Topic
content: African Americans in the performing arts -- 1930-1970
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Archives Center acquired the collection from Ernie Smith in 1993.
creator: label: Performer
content: Basie, Count, 1904-1984
label: Collector
content: Smith, Ernie
label: Performer
content: Webster, Ben
label: Performer
content: Armstrong, Louis, 1901-1971
label: Performer
content: Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974
label: Performer
content: Fitzgerald, Ella, 1917-1996
label: Performer
content: Goodman, Benny (Benjamin David), 1909-1986
label: Performer
content: Jamal, Ahmad, 1930-
label: Performer
content: Robinson, Bill, 1878-1949
label: Performer
content: Davis, Miles
setName: label: See more items in
content: Ernie Smith Jazz Film Collection
abstract: label: Summary
content: More than 300 reels of 16mm black and white and color film, silent and sound, fiction and documentary motion picture film documenting jazz and related musical performances, social and popular dance styles and performances, jazz musicians, performance locales, and documentation of African-American popular culture. A list of featured performers in the collection is shown below. The films are frequently compilations produced by Smith for lectures.
bioghist: label: Biographical
content: Ernest (Ernie) Smith began collecting jazz and jazz dance films during the mid-1950s. An Art Director for a New York advertising agency, Smith had a long-standing interest in jazz and jazz dance that began during his youth in Pittsburgh, Pa. Early on, Smith discovered that jazz music was best appreciated while dancing. He became an accomplished Lindy Hopper, frequenting both white and African American ballrooms.

His job at the advertising agency supported Smith's two passions - painting and jazz dance and music. Smith was also a film enthusiast so, in 1954, after taking a jazz class at the New School taught by Marshall Stearns, a leading jazz scholar, he began collecting examples of jazz and jazz dance on film. In the process of creating his film collection, Smith became one of the leading authorities on jazz and jazz dance films. He collaborated with Stearns on the 1964 book Jazz Dance, compiling the book's jazz dance film listing. He also wrote the extensive entry on jazz film for the 1988 edition of New Grove Dictionary of Jazz .

Smith built his film collection by identifying films of potential interest and acquiring them through trade and purchase. He created lecture reels on specific topics -- the history of jazz, social dance, tap dance, Duke Ellington, Lindy Hop -- and presented lecture/screenings nationally and internationally. He also provided footage for numerous documentaries and maintained active relationships with filmmakers, other film collectors, jazz scholars, the swing dance community, and musicians.

Ernie Smith donated his film collection to the Archives Center in 1993. He continues to lecture and participate in swing dance activities, but he devotes the majority of his time to painting and related artistic pursuits.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 30 Cubic feet (352 film reels , 16 mm)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1894-1979
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0491
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Motion pictures (visual works)
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into one series and is not arranged in accordance with standard archival procedures. The breadth of the collection and the existence of so many multiple topic and/or performer compilation reels made it impossible to impose traditional archival series order. Therefore, each reel is described at the item level in the container list.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Ben Pubols (volunteer), Franklin A. Robinson, Jr., archivist, and  Wendy Shay, afilm archivist, February 2001.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Motion pictures (visual works) -- 20th century
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of 352 reels of 16mm motion picture film. Most of the film is 16mm black and white and sound (composite optical track print), although a few titles are silent or in color. The collection is comprised of compilation reels created by Ernie Smith to accompany his lectures, topical compilation reels created by Ernie Smith, compilation reels created by the Archives Center, and single title reels. The Archives Center produced master and reference video copies using a wet-gate telecine film-to-tape transfer system. Titles were often combined to allow for increased ease of handling, storage, and duplication.

The collection is strongest in the areas of jazz dance styles including Lindy Hop and tap, overviews of jazz musical performers and styles; specific jazz musicians and performers including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Woody Herman, Artie Shaw, Bob Crosby, Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Jack Teagarden as well as a wide range of female vocalists; and documentation of the New York jazz and club scene. The collection includes feature films and excerpts from feature films, Soundies and other film shorts, television kinescopes, and documentary films.