David Collier Sharpstone films
name: label: Creator
content: Sharpstone, David Collier
label: Creator
content: Smith, Lance Bales
place: label: Place
content: Zimbabwe
label: Place
content: London (England)
label: Place
content: New York (N.Y.)
label: Place
content: Rome (Italy)
label: Place
content: Uganda
label: Place
content: Malawi
label: Place
content: Kenya
label: Place
content: Congo (Democratic Republic)
label: Place
content: South Africa
label: Place
content: Sudan
label: Place
content: Rwanda
label: Place
content: Utah
label: Place
content: California
topic: label: Topic
content: Dancing
label: Topic
content: Mines and mineral resources
label: Topic
content: Animals
label: Topic
content: Victoria Falls
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Sharpstone collection was donated by Richard Stewardson via the Archives of Ontario.
creator: label: Creator
content: Sharpstone, David Collier
label: Creator
content: Smith, Lance Bales
setName: label: See more items in
content: David Collier Sharpstone films
abstract: label: Summary
content: David Collier Sharpstone worked in the mining industry. He and his family lived in Uganda and Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia) during the 1940s and 1950s. This collection contains their film footage and Lance Smith's "Journey to Africa".
bioghist: label: Biographical Note - David Collier Sharpstone
content: David Collier Sharpstone (1902-1967) was an American geologist who worked at the Kilembe Copper Mine in Uganda and the Connemara Mine in Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia). He lived with his wife, Ramah, and their children Alexandra (Alex) and William (Bill) in Kilembe while working at the Kilembe Mine and on a farm called Stoneycroft near Bulawayo while working at the Connemara Mine. The family also lived in London for a year while Sharpstone worked in Europe. In 1942, he traveled to South Africa as part of a U.S. survey team looking for alternative mineral resources during World War II. At different points in his career he worked for the Metals Reserve Corp, a subsidiary of the Reconstruction Finance Corp, and the Homestake Mineral Development Company, part of the Homestake Mining Company.

Sharpstone had a passion for photography. He used 16mm Eastman Kodak and 8mm and 16mm Bell and Howell cameras. He also used a Leica screw mount camera. He did his own editing and splicing and took many trips with his wife while living in Uganda and Zimbabwe to observe and film the animals and countryside. He died in California in 1967.
label: Biographical Note - Lance Smith
content: Lance Smith was a farmer and politician in Rhodesia. He was born in England in 1910 and emigrated to Rhodesia in 1935. He served as a policeman in Gwelo before moving with his family to Banket and buying a farm. He became active in politics in the 1950s and eventually rose to the position of Minister of Internal Affairs. He was one of the signers of the Unilateral Day of Independence (UDI) proclamation on November 11, 1965, which declared the independence of Rhodesia from Great Britain. He was also one of the founders of the Rhodesian Front Party, serving as the vice president under president Ian Smith, to whom he was not related. Smith left office in 1974 and returned to his farm in Banket, where he remained after Zimbabwe gained its independence in 1980 and Mugabe's rise to power. He died on May 4, 2000.

Sources Consulted

Smith, Ian. "Serving in Ian Smith's Rhodesian Air Force." The Sunday Mail, November 22, 2020. https://www.pressreader.com/zimbabwe/the-sunday-mail-zimbabwe/20201122/281659667588772

Wikipedia. "Lance Smith (politician)." Accessed December 7, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Smith_(politician)
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 16 Film reels (silent, black-and-white and color, acetate film; 7,870 feet, 16mm)
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1946-1955
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Human Studies Film Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: HSFA.2000.06
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Film reels
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: 8 of the original 24 film reels were assembled with others by the archivist for digitization. This is noted in the individual items.

Processed by Samantha Oddi, August 2011, and Mark White, 2019

Encoded by Katherine Christensen, October 2020 and July 2021
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Sharpstone family's amateur films of eastern Africa were shot by members of the Sharpstone family during the 1940s and 1950s. They include footage of the family at home in Zimbabwe and Uganda, activities at the Conemara and Kilembe mines, and trips taken by the family to other parts of Africa, frequently to preserves to view wildlife. "Journey to Africa" was created by Lance Smith and David Sharpstone.

Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.