<I>Project Twenty: The Jazz Age</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1956
name: label: Produced by
content: Universal Network Television, American, founded 1950
label: Produced by
content: Henry Salomon, American, 1917 - 1958
label: Narrated by
content: Fred Allen, American, 1894 - 1956
label: Subject of
content: Josephine Baker, American, 1906 - 1975
label: Subject of
content: Ku Klux Klan, 2nd, American, 1915 - 1944
label: Subject of
content: Cotton Club, American, 1923 - 1940
label: Subject of
content: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
label: Owned by
content: D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
notes: label: Caption
content: This film was a part of the Washington D.C. Public Library's circulating 16mm film collection housed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Central Library. The collection is particularly noted for the wide variety of African American and African diaspora content.
label: Description
content: A documentary film with the title The Jazz Age from the television series Project 20. It consists of two (2) reels of 16mm black-and-white acetate film with optical sound (2017.55.86.1a & 2017.55.86.1b). Two (2) green film cannisters also accompany the film strips. There is a partially removed circular label on the first cannister (2017.55.86.1c) with the following printed on it in ink [America Enters the Twentieth Century Series / THE JAZZ AGE, PART 1 - 1919-1926 / (Black & White) / 26 mins]. The second cannister (2017.55.86.1d) also has a circular green and white Mc-Graw-Hill Book Co. label affixed to it. Text in the lower half of the label reads [The Jazz Age Series / THE JAZZ AGE, PART II / 26 mins]
label: Description
content: Through a combination of voiceover narration by Fred Allen and archival footage of major events of the early 20th century, the documentary captures the zeitgeist of post WWI America. Some of the scenes and topics that arise in the film include a Ku Klux Klan initiation (including footage of the 1926 KKK parade in Washington DC); changes in women's rights at the beginning of the century; the proliferation of automobiles; life under Prohibition and the development of speakeasy culture. The second half of the documentary (reel two) focuses on many of the changes in culture and entertainment: there is footage of Josephine Baker performing, a shot of the entrance to the Cotton Club and mention of entertainers such as Cab Calloway.
place: label: Place used
content: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Civil Rights
label: Topic
content: Documentary films
label: Topic
content: Entertainers
label: Topic
content: Film
label: Topic
content: Gender
label: Topic
content: Jazz (Music)
label: Topic
content: Law
label: Topic
content: Mass media
label: Topic
content: Musicians
label: Topic
content: Nightlife
label: Topic
content: Public television
label: Topic
content: U.S. History, 1919-1933
label: Topic
content: White supremacy movements
label: Topic
content: Women
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Collection title
content: DC Public Library Film Collection
label: Portfolio/Series
content: Project 20
label: Classification
content: Time-based Media - Moving Images
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2017.55.86.1a-d
objectType: label: Type
content: documentaries
label: Type
content: sound films
label: Type
content: black-and-white films (visual works)
label: Type
content: 16mm (photographic film size)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: acetate film and
label: Dimensions
content: Duration (Reel 1): 25 Minutes
label: Dimensions
content: Length (Film): 900 Feet
label: Dimensions
content: Duration (Reel 2): 28 Minutes
label: Dimensions
content: Length (Film): 1000 Feet