American Museum of Natural History
Organization
Found in 134 Collections and/or Records:
The story of cortisone
Collection
Identifier: Film Collection no. 86
Scope and Contents
The subject of the program is the discovery of cortisone as a treatment for arthritis. Studies indicate that symptoms of arthritis can be traced back to prehistoric dinosaurs. Dinosaur fossils from the Jurassic period of more that 150 million years ago, show signs of arthritis. A painful disease for both men and women through the ages, arthritis continues to afflict modern man. It was not until chemist Edward Calvin Kendall and physician Philip Showalter Hench discovered cortisone that...
Dates:
1954
The story of Marco Polo ; Campa ; Drums
Collection
Identifier: Film Collection no. 76
Scope and Contents
SEGMENT 1: The Story of Marco Polo. Eleanor Roosevelt is the honored guest on this Adventure broadcast. She narrates a documentary on Marco Polo's expeditions, and recounts her own experiences in the Orient. She also presents illustrations of what Marco Polo encountered during his travels. SEGMENT 2: Campa Indians. Harry Tschopik, assistant curator of ethnology at the American Museum of Natural History, describes the careful negotiations which take place with native people to record their...
Dates:
1954
The Sudan
Collection
Identifier: Film Collection no. 51
Scope and Contents
This show begins by examining the type of African films presented to the public, presenting as examples a clip of Simba, King of Beasts and Hollywood versions of African life. The main presentation, however, is an excerpt from The Pagan Sudan, a film made by Edgar Monsanto Queeny, AMNH trustee and chairman of the board of Monsanto Chemical Company. The film carefully depicts the country and its inhabitants, including the Madis and the Dinkas. The Madis are seen spearing a hippopotamus in a...
Dates:
1953
The Tomas of West Africa ; Birdwatching ; Troy
Collection
Identifier: Film Collection no. 80
Scope and Contents
SEGMENT 1: The Tomas of West Africa. The Tomas of Liberia and Sierra Leone, Africa are depicted in a film based on the book Sacred Forest, with special emphasis on their rituals and sacrifices, including male and female initiations. Another film on the Toma people is shown. Made by missionaries, this film depicts weaving, playing games, fishing, preparing food, playing music, parading for an inauguration, and dancing for various ceremonial rituals. Joseph Moore, an anthropology professor at...
Dates:
1954
Trip through space ; Life in a garden ; Tuna fishermen
Collection
Identifier: Film Collection no. 25
Scope and Contents
SEGMENT 1: Trip Through Space. Man in space and what he would find on a journey through the universe is the topic of this first segment. Frank H. Forrester and Joseph M. Chamberlain, astronomers at the AMNH-Hayden Planetarium, are introduced alongside the Zeiss projector at the planetarium. With the help of film and rear-view projectors the audience is shown planets and stars while Chamberlain discusses verified scientific facts about space travel. SEGMENT 2: Life in a Garden. Richard H....
Dates:
1953
Visual recording of speech ; Bali
Collection
Identifier: Film Collection no. 67
Scope and Contents
SEGMENT 1: Visual Recording of Speech. This segment examines new technological advances in the visual recording of speech. In a remote broadcast from the Haskins Laboratory in New York, Frank Cooper, Alvin Lieberman and Pierre de Lattre demonstrate the simplified common patterns which make it possible to hear and understand the sounds of speech. A sound spectograph and a filmed x-ray of people speaking are displayed. SEGMENT 2: Bali. Dr. Sudjarwo, Indonesian delegate to the United Nations,...
Dates:
1954
Voodoo
Collection
Identifier: Film Collection no. 123
Scope and Contents
The origin and history of voodoo is the topic of discussion for this broadcast. Illustrated through a performance by the Haitian dancer Jean Ľon Destine and his dance group with drums and singing dancers, the discussion explores the various meanings of voodoo as a religion and ritual. The word voodoo is derived from the word vodun, a god or spirit in the Fon language of Dahomey (now Benin).
Dates:
1956
Way of the Navajo
Collection
Identifier: Film Collection no. 116
Scope and Contents
The Way of the Navajo, first broadcast September 26, 1954, is shown again on this date after winning Adventure the George Foster Peabody Award. This film was also selected to be shown at the International Film Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Dates:
1955
Weather
Collection
Identifier: Film Collection no. 96
Scope and Contents
In a remote broadcast from the U.S. Coast Guard's weather ship Half Moon, Frank Forrester, meteorologist at the American Museum-Hayden Planetarium, and Charles Romine take viewers along on their scientific search for spring. Spring is explained as a purely mathematical equation for astronomers. The program discusses the history of man's attempts to gather weather data, from antiquity up to the present highly technological instruments. Films of weather-tracking instruments and the effects of...
Dates:
1955
Weather and storms ; Mouth-breeding fish ; Volcanoes
Collection
Identifier: Film Collection no. 33
Scope and Contents
SEGMENT 1: Weather and Storms. Frank. H. Forrester, astronomer at the AMNH-Hayden Planetarium, and Ernest J. Christie, meteorologist for the U. S. Weather Bureau, give scientific explanations for weather, cloud formations, and storms, including lightning and thunder. They present films illustrating storm patterns through a dramatic view of the eye of the hurricane as seen from an airplane flying directly into the storm and through views from the ground. Also shown are films of lightning. The...
Dates:
1953
American Museum of Natural History
Museum Archives at the Gottesman Research Library
200 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024-5192