Looking west on Broad Street - a rare color view, 1942.
"Tomorrow's History" is a 1942 produced film that shows 1940s Richmond in color. The 30-minute film is available in three parts on YouTube. It spotlights the role of the two major Richmond newspapers at that time, The Richmond Times Dispatch and The Richmond News-Leader. It shows the process of writing, editing, publishing, and delivering a metropolitan newspaper. The links to the film's three parts are provided below.
Douglas Southall Freeman (1886-1953), editor of the Richmond News-Leader, 1915 to 1949, and Virginius Dabney (1901-1995), editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, 1936-1949, are seen in the film. "Tomorrow's History" provides a rare glimpse of Freeman, Dabney, and other Richmond notables on film. For those people interested in Virginia history, seeing these men on film (looking much younger than we are familiar with and moving -- even if it is just them typing on their typewriters) -- is a rare, nerdy kind of treat.
A scene from the film looks just like a 1940s Hollywood newsroom depiction. Many reporters, editors, columnists, and other newspaper staff are shown on the job in the film.
The newspapers were part of Richmond Newspapers, Inc., founded in 1940 and owned primarily by the Bryan family of Richmond. In 1969, Richmond Newspapers, Inc. became Media General, which became part of Nexstar in 2017. Learn more about the media company's history Here. You can access old issues (1925-1963) of The Richmond News-Leader HERE - its part of the Library of Virginia's Virginia Chronicle newspaper site. The Richmond-Times Dispatch is also available at Virginia Chronicle as well as on Newspapers [dot] com and the Library of Congress' Chronicling America stie.
Front page image of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Dec. 8, 1941, shown in the film. Produced in early 1942, references to the start of World War Two and its effect on publishing a newspaper are a consistent presence in the film.
"Tomorrow's History" is certainly a product of its time. There is hardly a black person seen in the film. A segment on women staff editors seems dated and a bit chauvinist.
Image of the same newspaper cover from Newspapers [dot] com. That newspaper portal is one of the best to research history in newspapers.
This scene shows Fred O. Seibel (1886-1968), the longtime editorial cartoonist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Visit this online exhibit to learn more about Seibel.
The presses roll. The process of printing the newspaper and its distribution and circulation are major segments in the film.
The film was produced by Walker C. Cottrell, Jr. (1911-1992) and LeRoy Anderson (1909-1984). Cottrell was an inventor and the founder of Cottrell Electronics Corp., which designed and installed electric audio equipment. Anderson worked as a staff photographer for the Richmond Newspapers, Inc. In late 1942, Anderson joined the Navy to become a photographer and filmmaker for the military. He later worked as a commercial photographer. Both Cottrell and Anderson made several educational films in the early 1940s. The narrator of the film is Erwin Darlington, a WRVA announcer. The music was provided by Emil Belasco, a radio organist of New York City. [Information listing the filmmakers is from the May 5, 1942 issue of The Richmond News Leader.]
The 30-minute film was broken up into three sections on YouTube. It was shared on YouTube by Richmond's WRIC-TV's Creative Services department.
Links to the video of "Tomorrow's History" -
Part One. Part Two. Part Three.
Let us know what you think of the film.
- Ray
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