Video
Stephen T. Mather Film Collection: Jane Floy Mather and the Townsends, 1925
Descriptive Transcript
A man in a suit and hand stands smoking on a neighborhood sidewalk. Another man and a woman are nearby. Behind his is a man what looks like a hand-crank siren. Another woman appears.
The two women and a man sit at the base of a large outdoor statue featuring a man on a horse on top of a huge marble plinth. The camera zooms in on the base of the statue which reads, “Thomas Jonathan Jackson 1824-1863.” Although not identified as such in the film, this is a statue of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson by Charles Keck in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Scene changes to two women and two men on a porch. Another woman, in a black dress, women flips down the top of a round table. Exterior view of the house with its porch. The shake hand and the four visitors leave.
Scene changes to an exterior view of a brick building with a columned portico on the front and a dome on the top. Although not identified in the film, this the main house at Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. The foursome walk across the lawn to a smaller brick building. Although not identified in the film, this is the building at the end of Mulberry Row. The roof and chimney of Mulberry Row can just be seen above the grass as they stand outside talking. They shake hands outside a clapboard building.
Scene changes to a parade float going down the road past onlookers. About a dozen women in white dresses and large floppy brimmed hats sit on the float. A brass band follows the float down the road, followed by women dressed in frontier-style dress and bonnets, walking. Another float follows. Women in the parade walking down the street flanked by men in Colonial-style clothing. Another float, consisting of a miniature house and picket fence on a truck bed follows. On the back of the truck, inside the fence, several women in costume sit holding parasols. The float is signed “Women’s Civic League.” Sever other floats drive past, including one with a model deer and another with people holding shields for countries such as Spain, England, and Brazil. Other floats drive by. One has an open book illustration which reads, “A Land of History Washington Surveyed US Apples have Made US. More women walk in front of another float carrying more women. The next float has a man and woman in George and Martha Washington style clothing. The next float has “A Land of Civic Pride” and “A Land of Service” on its side. Another float represents the Woodbine Community League. More floats pass by. Three men dressed in fake beards and with oversized sheriff’s badges walk the parade route. A horse-drawn carriage proceeds down the route. A large float has “Shenandoah Valley” on the top and “Broad Way of Commerce” on its side.
Scene changes to a US Army blimp flying overhead as passes behind trees.
Scene changes to a river with rapidly flowing water across large boulders and rushing down small waterfalls. This river is not identified.
Description
Silent black-and-white home movie of Jane Floy Mather, wife of Stephen T. Mather, and a couple described as the Townsends in Charlottesville and Winchester, Virginia, May 5-6, 1925. Charlottesville scenes include the “Stonewall” Jackson statute and Monticello. Winchester scenes feature a parade. A US Army blimp and a river with rapids are also in the film. Copyright transferred to the NPS.
Duration
7 minutes, 7 seconds
Credit
NPS History Collection (HFCA 1883)
Date Created
12/05/2024
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