News & Events

A Partnership Grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation has enabled the University of Idaho Library to preserve three films of northern Idaho's mining district made between 1926 and 1930 by mining engineer Harry Marsh. The films, part of a collection of 12 held by the university, are the earliest known films of the Silver Valley and hold distinct historical value.

These unique films show a bygone era of Idaho's Silver Valley Mining District, and have drawn attention from historical societies and museums interested in obtaining copies of the films. One other film, believed to have been shot by Marsh, resides in the Wallace District Mining Museum in Wallace. Marsh, a 1909 alumnus of the University of Idaho, was an engineer for the Tamarack and Custer Mine.

Before the library applied for the NFPF grant, Michael Tarabulski, an archivist at the University of Idaho, searched for other films made of mining operations in the Silver Valley. "Museums in Spokane, Wash., and in Coeur d'Alene did not have copies of these films," he said. "The Mining Hall of Fame, in Leadville, Colo., has no films from this area or this era. I also spoke with Duane Smith, head of the Mining History Association, who knew of nothing similar from this time and place."

"The mining industry has played a central role in Idaho's economic and political development," said Katherine Aiken, dean of the university's College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences, and a noted Idaho historian. "Perhaps more importantly, literally thousands of individuals have worked in the Silver Valley mines and these films provide a connection to this history for their many descendants and others interested in Idaho's past."

Triage Archival Restoration Services in Los Angeles, Calif., donated $5,000 in services to preserve the film under the auspices of the NFPF Partnership Grant; the NFPF paid Triage an additional $1,340 to complete preservation.

"It was great to work with Triage," said Tarabulski. "They normally take longer to complete NFPF preservation grant work, but in this instance, because we had specific deadlines, they really pushed it through and completed the work inside of two months. Our little preservation project was going through their laboratory while they worked on the restoration of major motion pictures, like 'Once Upon a Time in the West.' The latter sort of studio projects enable Triage to do this preservation work on orphaned films like these, which show another time in another West."

Preservation requires a new negative to be created from the original film. A new print then is made from the new negative. "It's important to realize these films have been preserved, not restored," said Tarabulski.

The general public may view the films on DVD copies available in the Special Collections and Archives at the University of Idaho. Digital versions also are available on the Special Collections and Archives Web site at www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/dm/dm2007/mining_films.htm.

"We hope the discovery and preservation of these films encourages others with old films of Silver Valley mining to pull them out," said Tarabulski. "It's the heritage of the area; the silver and lead and other metals have travelled around the world, so it has impact beyond Idaho and is worth sharing."

For additional information about the university's Special Collections, visit www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections.