President McKinley Inauguration Footage
President McKinley Inauguration Footage is the name given to two different short documentary films which were combined as one. The two titles are President McKinley Taking the Oath and President McKinley and Escort Going to the Capitol. The two show President William McKinley arriving at the United States Capitol in order to take the oath of office of the president of the United States as part of his second inauguration on March 4, 1901.
Both were produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company, and in 2000 the United States Library of Congress deemed the two "culturally significant" and selected them for preservation in the National Film Registry.[1][2]
Production
[edit]Edison's crew shot the films on location on March 4, 1901, and released their footage less than two weeks later. The notes stated they had a camera and were "within twenty feet of the President's carriage when it passed," giving the general public an unprecedentedly intimate view of a United States president. The crew captured their images on several campers placed on rudimentary tripods that made it difficult to pan or tilt while filming.[3]
The cinematography is believed to have been the responsibility of Edwin S. Porter and James H. White.[3]
Release
[edit]Press accounts described the film receiving "great applause" and causing "pandemonium" during its screenings.[3]
See also
[edit]- Inauguration of the Commonwealth, another early film (released January 1901) showing a national leader being sworn in.
References
[edit]- ↑ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
- ↑ "Librarian of Congress Names 25 More Films to National Film Registry". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedEagan Board 2010
External links
[edit]- President McKinley Inauguration essay [1] by Charles "Buckey" Grimm at National Film Registry
- President McKinley Taking the Oath, Library of Congress
- President McKinley and Escort Going to the Capitol, Library of Congress
- President McKinley Taking the Oath at IMDb
- President McKinley and Escort Going to the Capitol at IMDb
- Use mdy dates from March 2025
- Use American English from January 2025
- 1901 films
- 1901 short films
- 1901 American films
- 1901 documentary films
- 1901 English-language films
- American black-and-white films
- American short documentary films
- American silent short films
- Black-and-white documentary films
- Documentary films about presidents of the United States
- Edison Manufacturing Company films
- Films shot in Washington, D.C.
- Presidency of William McKinley
- Surviving American silent films
- Thomas Edison
- United States National Film Registry films
- United States presidential inaugurations
- English-language short documentary films