Camp Charles H. Grimm and Traffic Safety Parades
Photograph: Camp Charles H. Grimm, northern Virginia, circa 1950s. Courtesy Grimm Family. Image subject to copyright laws.
Conservation and Capture:
Grant Year: 2021
Grant Category: Al Larvick National Grant
Grant Recipient: Charles “Buckey” Grimm
Collection Title: Camp Charles H. Grimm and Traffic Safety Parades
Primary Maker(s): Sponsored by the American Automobile Association, most likely shot by AAA staff photographers.
Original Format: 16mm, black and white, color, silent
Circa: 1950-1964
Collection Size: approx. 2900 feet, equaling 6 reels of film
Grant support: Cleaning and repair and digital capture of the entire film-based collection
Digital capture format: Scanned at 2k resolution
Lab: Pro8mm
Status: Conservation and digitization completed
Online Access: Coming soon
Creative Commons License: Collection custodians, the Grimm family has elected not to assign a license to this collection
GRANTEE
Digital video image: Charles “Buckey” Grimm, Interview still, Harridans, Hoydens and Heroines: How Women Transformed Early American Cinema. Courtesy Robert Farr. Image subject to copyright laws.
Charles “Buckey” Grimm is an Independent Researcher who was born and raised in Alexandria, Virginia. His work has been published in Film History, The Moving Image and Journal of Film Preservation. He has also contributed essays to the Women Film Pioneers Project as well as the National Film Registry.
Devoting much of his research efforts to the early days of the Motion Picture Industry, Buckey has extensively covered early efforts in film preservation and the history of U.S. government filmmaking. As well as other facets of the beginnings of the motion picture industry.
His current effort is to document the lives and careers of pioneering cameramen and camerawomen from the silent era.
Photograph: Lt. Henry F. Grimm Sr. receiving key to the station wagon for camp use from Herby’s Ford, 1956. Courtesy the Grimm family. Image subject to copyright laws.
FILMMAKER(S)
The American Automobile Association (the "AAA" or "Triple-A") was founded on March 4, 1902, in Chicago, Illinois, in response to a lack of roads and highways suitable for automobiles. At that time, nine motor clubs with a total of 1,500 members banded together to form the Triple-A. Those individual motor clubs included the Chicago Automobile Club, Automobile Club of America, Automobile Club of New Jersey, and others. AAA was the sponsor for the filming of camp activities. The cinematographers were most likely AAA staff.
Photograph: Alexandria Police Department. Source Alexandria Police Department, book, page 122. Copyright 2006 Alexandria Police Association, Arcadia Publishing.
COLLECTION
This collection of media belongs to the Grimm family. It was in the possession of Henry Franklin Grimm Sr. (December 8th, 1902 - March 9, 1984), who was the founder and Director of Camp Charles H. Grimm. Mr. Grimm was a Sergeant on the Alexandria Police force in Alexandria, VA, who began his career in 1929 as a Patrolman and served the City of Alexandria rising to the rank of Lieutenant . The majority of his years in the Police Department were in the Traffic Safety Division.
Newspaper clipping: Henry F. Grimm, Cpl Ronald J. Mullen, Mr. Channel. Publicizing of donation of football and basketballs to Boys Camp Fund, 1959. Courtesy the Grimm family. Image subject to copyright laws.
In 1946, Lieutenant Grimm proposed a plan to the Alexandria Police Association to purchase land for use as a Camp for the youth of Alexandria. The plan was approved, and a plot of land was purchased in Kilmarnock in the Northern Neck area of Virginia. In that year 125 boys were able to spend time at the camp.
With more donations, Cabins were built as well bath facilities. In 1947 the camp was officially organized as the Alexandria Police Boys Camp and named Camp Charles H. Grimm (January 5th, 1925 - February 19, 1945) after Sergeant Grimm’s son who was killed in action at Iwo Jima. One of the earliest decisions made by the staff of the Camp was that no child or parent would bare the expense of the cost of attending camp. By the mid 1950’s approximately 700 campers were attending the one week sessions during the summer.
The Camp Grimm footage provides a record of the various activities at the camp. Part of the campers time was spent with instruction on various facets of traffics safety. There was also plenty of time for the typical recreational activities, softball, swimming, fishing, a recreation hall with table tennis, boxing, and movie night were all part of the campers experience.
16mm still image: Madison School Traffic Safety Parade. Courtesy the Grimm Family. Image subject to copyright laws.
The remaining footage is of the Traffic Safety Parades held in various locales of northern Virginia. This provided an opportunity for the School Safety Patrol members to be recognized by the local community. The Safety Patrols were students who were trained by the local police to assist traveling students to arrive at school safely. They assisted in getting students safely across the street, and enter and exit the school buses that transported them.
These films depict home movie scenes of camp participants, their families, staff and sponsors. It is unknown how the films came to be under Grimm family custodianship. The 16mm reels were most likely stored with camp and/or AAA personnel until they were collected by Henry F. Grimm, Sr. and remained in his family’s possession following his passing.
Photograph: Alexandria Police Department. Source Alexandria Police Department, book, page 124. Copyright 2006 Alexandria Police Association, Arcadia Publishing.