Sanchez Family of New Mexico
Photograph: The Sanchez Family, The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Santa Fe, NM, March 1979. Courtesy Joe Golling. Image subject to copyright laws.
CONSERVATION & CAPTURE
Grant year: 2022
Grant category: Al Larvick National Grant
Grant recipient: Joe Golling
Collection title: Sanchez Family of New Mexico
Primary maker(s): Jose Sanchez
Original format: 8mm and Super 8 film, black and white, color, silent
Circa: Late 1950s through mid 1960s
Collection size: 43 reels of film equaling approximately 2150ft and many still photographs
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: CC0 – “No Rights Reserved” https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/
GRANTEE
American Archival offers families an exciting way to preserve their treasured memories, and celebrate their heritage. A passion project started by Joe Golling, American Archival makes high quality photo/film/video archives, and entertaining Home Movies from those collections. It's one thing to have a robust archive, it's quite another to make it fun! To learn more, visit www.americanarchival.com
Portrait:“Don Jose” Jose Sanchez, circa 1972. Courtesy Joe Golling. Image subject to copyright laws.
FILMMAKER
Jose Francisco Sanchez was born March 30, 1925 to Nicolacita Miera and Antonio Amado Sanchez. He was born in Clayton, NM. After serving in WWII at the age of 18 he returned home and met and married his neighbor Aurora Cordova. Jose had a variety of jobs throughout his life including owning and operating a restaurant in Santa Fe, NM named El Comedor from 1967 - 1974.
Jose was also a celebrated Deacon in the Catholic church. He was an only child and he and his wife had 12 children, 6 boys and 6 girls. Jose enjoyed filming family and friends during camping trips and family parties, and preferred using his Super 8 film camera over still cameras.
COLLECTION
What we have is approximately 43 reels of 8mm and Super 8mm Film. The Sanchez family has had them in Closets and household Garages, in New Mexico, (very dry, high elevation) from the 1960s until the 2000s. This collection is a very thorough look into the past, at a period of major transition for New Mexico. Modern culture is blossoming while a young family enjoys the fruits of post war America. We are grateful that Jose Sanchez was so dedicated to filming as much as he did… preserving his moving pictures will help his descendants remember this foundational era.
The Sanchez family is presently gathering pictures from the 1960s to supplement the films and to edit into an eventual Home Movie. This is quite the task, as there are now so many descendants of Jose and Aurora.
8mm/Super 8 film still: Aurora Sanchez with son, Andres, El Comedor restaurant, run by the Sanchez family, Santa Fe, NM, 1966. Courtesy Joe Golling. Image subject to copyright laws.