National Archives and Records Service film-vault fire at Suitland, Md. : hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, first session, June 19 and 21, 1979 (1979)

168 share responsibility for preserving thousands of our country's film treasures. It is a responsibility that none of us takes lightly. I am appearing today to discuss Universal's donation in 1970 and 1974 of approximately 17.5 million feet of film to the National Archives of the United States, as well as the tragic loss of some of that film in a fire at the Suitland, Md., facilities of the National Archives in December 1978. The film donated to the Archives by Universal consisted primarily of its collection of newsreels for the years 1929 to 1967. The period covered by Universal's newsreels is one of the richest in American history, from the stock market crash of 1929 through the Great Depression and subsequent New Deal, to the Second World War, and the rapid social changes of the 1960's. We always considered that Universal's collection was more valuable than other collections because, unlike those other collections, it had not had extensive public exposure by use in feature films. Also, as a result of the very extensive cross-reference indexing system utilized by Universal— which indexing system was also donated to the Archives — the collection is a superior resource for scholars and so forth. Additionally, because of our inspection program and our policy of storing the films in special vaults, the newsreels remained in essentially the same condition throughout the period that they were in Universal's possession. I might digress here. This is not to say that we did not ever suffer any deterioration because it is a foregone conclusion that, with nitrate film, you will have deterioration. We elected, over a period of years, to dispose of all material which showed those various signs of deterioration. In the late 1960's, the Government, recognizing the historical, political, and social importance of this collection, requested that Universal donate this collection to the American people. In 1970, Universal agreed to donate its newsreel collection to the National Archives. An initial gift of a portion of the collection was made to the Government on November 18, 1970. On November 25, 1970, Universal entered into an agreement with the National Archives whereby Universal was to transfer possession of the remainder of its collection to the Archives. The Archives, in turn, was to make the collection available to the public and to scholars for research and other similar uses. Under that agreement, the Government was to maintain and inspect the collection and to convert to safer, acetate film all of the nitrate film deemed to be of cultural or historical significance. In 1970 and 1971, Universal shipped the films included in the initial gift ])lus certain of tlie films covered by the November 25, 1970, agreement. The initial agreement between Universal and the Government conemplated that each subsequent shipment would consist of 100,000 feet of film and that each such shipment would be made only after the previous shipment had been converted to acetate film. However, in 1973, the Government advised Universal that it had uilt space available in building A of the Suitland facility and sug(^.'Sted that I^niversal transfer the entire remainder of the films in the newsreel collection at that time.y Universal recommended to the Archives that in order to protect the footage and the public's safety, prior to the delivery of the remainder