Historical Background: The first home video cameras hit the market in the 1910s and gradually became more accessible and easier to use throughout the twentieth century. Many people quickly realized the importance of this new tool for communicating to the public. The following videos are from the T.D.A. Cockerell Collection here at CU's Archives. T.D.A. Cockerell, a professor at CU in the early 1900s, adopted film as an educational tool in the 1930s and 1940s. He created, and collected, films to show to his classes and to show to the public. We have digitized about 40 of his early nature films, which you can find links to below listed by topic. T.D.A. and Willamette Cockerell actually traveled around the American west promoting conservation issues using films, an effective early use of this new communication medium.
Communication Strategies: Video is, of course, an incredibly powerful way to communicate about science and the environment, be it through popular nature programs like Planet Earth, video of environmental destruction, news stories, documentaries, or even social media videos. What do you think we gain and lose when using this format to communicate environmental topics?
T.D.A. and Willamette Cockerell in the 1930s
The following links take you to the original films from the collections, all made between 1920 and 1950. Find an environmental topic that interests you! Note that the anthropological films include a lot of problematic imagery/descriptions and depictions of native peoples.
| Around Boulder |
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| Antoinette Bigelow in Gold Hill and Boulder (1930-1939) |
| New Garden Picture, Mr. Fine's (1935-1940) |
| Mountain Climbing in the Front Range (1939-1941) [the first 2 minutes show the CU Boulder campus] |
| Entomology |
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| Guests of the Flowers (c. 1930) [Colorado Bees] |
| Some Water Insects: A Silent Teaching Film (1945) |
| Our Common Enemy (1921) [Flies] |
| Leafcutter Ants (1940-1948) |
| Mammals |
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| Chipmunks, Grey Squirrels, and Pollinators (1930-1940) |
| Young Gorillas (1930-1940) |
| Old Roses and New Roses (1930-1940) |
| Yellow Spiderflower and Pollen under the Microscope (1933) |
| Andrew's Nursery Short Film (1935-1937) |
| The Smoke Tree (1930-1940) |
| Travel Films |
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| The Belgian Congo (1931) |
| Kaiteur Falls and the Amazon (1926) |
| "Indigenous" Conservation |
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| Pilgrims of the Wild, Reel 1 (1935) |
| Pilgrims of the Wild, Reel 2 (1935) |
| Paricutin Volcano (1944-1945) [Mexico] |
| Eruption of Mauna Loa Volcano (c. 1940) [Hawaii] |
| Sulphur Mining (1939) |
| Unidentified People and Animals (1930-1939) |
| Unidentified Wool Spinning (1930-1948) |
