Kimball Images Collection

CONSERVATION & CAPTURE

Grant year: 2023

Grant category: Al Larvick National Grant

Grant recipient: Carol Kimball

Collection title: Kimball Images collection

Primary maker(s):  Lucy Marie Renbarger Kimball, Carol Kimball

Original format: 8mm and Super 8 film, 16mm, black and white, color, silent, sound

Circa: Late 1940s - 1970s, 1990s

Collection size: 31 reels of 8mm/Super 8 film; 4 reels of 16mm film and 5 VHS/S-VHS/VHS-C

Grant support: Cleaning and repair and digital capture of approximately half of the overall film collection

Digital capture format: Scanned at 2k resolution

Lab: Pro8mm

Status:  In-progress

Online Access: Coming soon

Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International: Coming soon

Grantee

“During my childhood, my family would make the 3 ½ hour car trip from Ohio to Indiana to spend the weekend with my paternal grandparents a few times a year.  It was always exciting to me because my grandmother (Lucy Renbarger Kimball) could sometimes be encouraged to set up her Bell & Howell projector (probably manufactured in the 30s, when she first began making home movies).  I was always fascinated with the whole process – the projector, the shiny screen, the film cans, threading the 8mm film onto the projector, the images of our family floating before me, first in black and white, then eventually in color.

My grandmother and grandfather (Hubert Kimball) spent several years, especially after retirement, researching the family history and ancestry the old-fashioned way – visiting courthouses, graveyards and churches.  Unbeknownst to me until I was in my 70s, Gateway Press posthumously published a book of her research: https://www.amazon.com/descendants-George-Renbarger-1760-1852-Indiana/dp/B0006EZ6DG 

When my grandmother died suddenly in 1979, I was concerned about what would happen to these cans of film, as well as the numerous photo albums she had painstakingly created during her lifetime.  I was both dismayed and thrilled to discover that I was the only person in the family who wanted these precious artifacts.  I happily loaded the projector, boxes of film cans and stacks of photo albums into my car and took them home.  Some photos were as old as post-Civil War, and the oldest home movies were from the early 1940s.

In 1991, following a mid-life divorce, I realized my life was now a clean sheet of paper before me, and I decided to go back to school for another bachelor’s degree.  What will it be? Music or film?  I had had 8 years of classical piano training so opted for a new direction - a degree in film from Columbia College Chicago.  Before I even finished school, I began working free-lance in corporate and business communications, where I spent 10 years working as an assistant director, still photographer, script supervisor, music supervisor, casting director, prop master, meeting coordinator – you name it.  I also played and sang in a few bands.  While I was working as assistant director on a longform corporate project, I met my future music partner with whom I co-wrote and produced the stage musical Lust ‘n Rust.  Our show had a highly successful 5 week run in Chicago, was subsequently published by Samuel French and produced in theaters around the U.S.  It’s currently under an options contract with Penelope Spheeris (Wayne’s World).” ~ Carol Kimball

http://www.lustnrustthemovie.com

Filmmakers

“My paternal grandmother, Lucy, was a force of nature who lived a very modest life in small town Indiana with my grandfather, Hubert. They had two sons, Jack (my father) and George (who perished on his last scheduled mission in the Army Air Corp). Lucy was the family historian and I have several books of family photos going back to the late 1880s.

The moving images I created in film school were at a time in my life of great change - divorcing at 40, moving from Toledo, OH to Chicago to get a degree in film. (I already had a degree in journalism.) Some of my student films are documentaries, some were stories. One documentary was chosen to be on Image Union.” ~ Carol Kimball

Collection

“The 8mm films I have were taken by my paternal grandmother, Lucy Marie Renbarger Kimball of Hartford City, IN. The contents are silent movies of their car and camping trips, including a Rose Bowl trip in the 1950s, from the late 40s to early 70s - Michigan, Indiana, Illinois (including Chicago), New York, New Mexico, Arizona. Also, family holiday gatherings, including the first Christmas my parents spent with my grandparents, 1947. Some footage of small town Ohio where I grew up. One reel is of special interest - shot by my uncle George, an Army Air Corp soldier, stationed in India during WWII. Fascinating footage of barracks, urban Calcutta, aerial views from their bomber. Footage of my father in his Navy uniform getting on the train and saying goodbye at the Hartford City train station, heading to Great Lakes Naval Base on the north side of Chicago. There is also footage of a family reunion or two (Indiana), world's fair, and my uncle's military funeral. Some of my grandmother's footage was used as B roll by a director/producer in Chicago in her documentary about Chicago in WWII and the early 50s. She used the footage of my parents celebrating their first Christmas (1947) as well as some other images.

My 16mm films and VHS videos were from the 1990s when I was a film student at Columbia College Chicago. One last piece would be a video of the musical I co-wrote and co-produced in Chicago.” ~ Carol Kimball