Decompressing Part Two

We got an early start because we were heading into one of the busiest freeway systems in the country.  We arrived at the National Archives in College Park, MD on schedule.  The whole experience was pretty spectacular.  We began by registering and were then given our official 'researcher' identification. 

 After that, we made our way to the lockers.  In order to protect the records in the archives, you are not allowed to bring in pens, paper, etc.  Anything you might need will be found inside the archives.  I had one piece of paper with the details of the records I needed to access; that had to be officially stamped before we could take it into the rooms.  It seemed a little overkill, but then again, these are some precious items they are preserving.  Pretty soon, we were on the proper floor for historical films.  We received our film 'can' and were directed to a small room where we loaded the film onto a 'flatbed' viewer.





You can see in this image that the film played on a reel to reel system.  What was spectacular about this was that I could stop the film on any single frame.  This allowed me to be able to make still frame images of all those frames I wished.  This was fantastic because I wanted to make some images of those moments that none existed.  The quality was fantastic too.

On the screen you can see Orville and General Frank Carol.  Carol was in charge of all new aircraft for the US Army.  All new planes came to Wilbur Wright Field and each time a new craft was acquired, Carol invited Orville to the field to see them.  On this particular day, Orville not only took the tour, but he also took a flight.  This was to be his final flight.  Not only did he take a flight on this day, he actually took the controls for part of this journey!

Here I am acting corny in my white researcher gloves.  We watched the film about eight times.  The whole film was only about six and a half minutes long, but each time we watched it we learned something new.  You couldn't help but feel a little bit like Indiana Jones as you watched the film, searching for tiny details that might lead to even more insight.  


Here is the actual film.  I took this movie of the film and then did a tiny bit of editing afterward.  I only edited the shape of the film; everything else, sound, scratches etc. is original.



C69 Archival Footage Small from Todd Burleson on Vimeo.

After the archives, it was time to head toward Washington D.C.  It was only about 15 miles and thankfully some of the morning traffic had dissipated by the time we were on our way.  Parking is pretty challenging in D.C., but we lucked out and found a parking garage about three blocks from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.  

We spent a couple of hours looking at the aircraft on display.  Then it was time to visit the Wright Flyer.  I especially like how well lit the Flyer is.  I think it helps accent how fragile and yet solid it is.  I couldn't get over how pristine the muslin remains.  They must have some pretty intense cleaning processes that they maintain.  Soon, we were ready to explore more of D.C.  We headed toward the capitol.  

It was a truly gorgeous day; I actually managed to get some sunburn!  We found or way to the capitol visitor's center and learned that we needed passes to get into the galleries.  So, we headed off to the office buildings and got some passes.  Watching both the House and Senate in session was pretty awesome.  No photographs of any kind are allowed so I have nothing to show for it except a few documents that they gave us.  Being late in the afternoon, there was not much happening officially in the chambers, but  nonetheless, it was neat to see.

Soon enough, it was time to head to CNN where my college roommate Don was working on the show called The Situation Room. 

The control room was brimming with screens.  Being the director of the studio in my school, I figured I had a pretty good idea of how the set up might look.  Well, I was shocked.  There were probably 15 people crammed into this tiny space.  Each of them had very specific jobs.  The thing that shocked me the most was that there was so much laughter and humor happening behind the scenes.  It made me smile to know that, just like our studio at school, these folks were enjoying their jobs.  After meeting Wolf and the staff, my friends Donn and Jim went out to a delicious dinner.  Heading back to Maryland, we were whipped.  We had walked over six miles and seen so much.  Tomorrow I would be heading to Ohio to do even more research and also to be part of someone else's research!