Friday, December 31, 2021

H. Lee Waters Film Collection

The H. Lee Waters Film Collection includes silent films documenting communities in the Carolinas and in Virginia from 1936-1942. African-American communities in Kannapolis, N.C., are included in the collection, which is in the archives of Duke University Libraries.

Look for Reel 3 of the Kannapolis footage, and scroll down to the time stamps below the video. At 18:06 on Reel 3, are students at George Washington Carver in Kannapolis. I get choked up watching this footage because my parents grew up in Kannapolis, and although they were born a few years after these videos were made, I know some of these people working and playing and going about their lives are my family.