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CONTENT DOCUMENTED, FILM LOCATED, RECONSTRUCTION STARTED
Research recently documented the detailed contents of Wilbur H. Durborough's lost First World War documentary film, On the Firing Line with the Germans, from nine paper-print rolls filed, in 1915, with its original copyright submission. This enabled locating nearly all film segments among the miscellaneous reels of known Durborough film preserved in the National Archives and the Library of Congress, augmented by additional unattributed film in the National Archives' U.S. Army Signal Corps collection of miscellaneous World War I film. The Library of Congress has started a reconstruction of the film using these elements, with an intended completion by the film's public viewing centennial on 28 November 2015.
Since no complete American WWI featurelength documentary film is currently known to exist, it might be useful to share some history concerning the institutions, individuals, and events that enabled this opportunity. Although some aspects of this moving image research effort might be unique to this film, it provides a good case for the important work done over the past century by archives, libraries, and individuals employed by them, as well as by their users. Especially important to note are those who, when presented with unusual tasks, took initiatives and made decisions based on the larger institutional mission which resulted in preserving unique materials, some now being used in ways originally unforeseen, that were crucial for making this film-reconstruction project possible.
1915-1917: THE FILM IS MADE'
When World War I started, 32-year-old Durborough had been a professional still photojournalist for less than five years, and an independent photographer for the previous two on contract with the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), the Scripps newspapers' service that provided national feature stories and photos for its own papers as well as to several hundred small, independent newspaper subscribers. Durborough rose quickly in the ranks due to his ability to take captivating photos of his subjects; he clearly enjoyed witnessing history and meeting the important newsmakers and personalities of the time. Like other journalists, Durborough also enjoyed being in front of the camera and frequently submitted photos of himself in striking poses with his subject.
Durborough eagerly accepted an NEA assignment to cover the war in Germany, and he also indicated to the editor his...