William O'Farrell Collection

Abstract
This collection consists of "orphan" films and other odds and ends that don't fit well into CFA's standard routines for establishing provenance. These include films that arrived at the archive via people who bought them at estate sales, flea markets, or eBay, and films that were donated to CFA anonymously. Films in the collection include home movies, industrial films, educational films, and complete surprises.
Description

CFA's William O'Farrell Collection started with films that Bill O'Farrell purchased from eBay (such as reels documenting the 1968 Indianapolis 500 race) or from other film collectors and donated to CFA. In the years since, the O'Farrell Collection has taken on a life of its own, growing with contributions from many other sources. It has become our repository for all stray or orphan items. 

The collection is named after William O'Farrell (1954 – 2008), Chief Moving Image and Audio Preservation Director at the National Archives of Canada, who was an important early supporter of Chicago Film Archives and an all-around champion of neglected films and regional archives.

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Series In this Collection
SERIES: Dan Argires Films
SERIES: Shedd Aquarium (Animal Life Educational Films)
SERIES: Sales Training Films
SERIES: Moral Re-Armament Films
SERIES: Films from the University of Iowa
SERIES: Miscellaneous Baseball Films
SERIES: Helen Hargrave Films
SERIES: Ken Nordine Collected Films
SERIES: Center for Home Movies Collection
SERIES: Julian Antos Collection
SERIES: Lippens-Armstrong Collection
SERIES: Charles J. Anderson Jr. Collection
SERIES: J.A. Bobber Collection
SERIES: Stephens/Vidmar Collection
circa 1946 – 1972
SERIES: Heather Yutzy Collection
1950 – 1952
SERIES: Sean Cogan Collection
1964

Collection Items

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Quaker Oats Company "From Factory to Dairy"
Film
Quaker Oats Company "From Factory to Dairy"
1928
Indy 500 (Master Reel 2)
Film
Indy 500 (Master Reel 2)
1968
Indy 500 (Master Reel 1)
Film
Indy 500 (Master Reel 1)
1968
Chicago Breakdown
Film
Chicago Breakdown
1976
Sauganash Parade
Film
Sauganash Parade
1964
[1926 Institute of American Meat Packers Convention]
Film
[1926 Institute of American Meat Packers Convention]
1926
Suter's Foods - This Little Chicken Went to the Market
Film
Suter's Foods - This Little Chicken Went to the Market
1966
Hill's Dog Food - Lots of Dogs
Film
Hill's Dog Food - Lots of Dogs
1965
[3 Hill's Dog Food Commercials]
Film
[3 Hill's Dog Food Commercials]
1968
World's Fair [Fragment]
Film
World's Fair [Fragment]
1933
See Yourself As Others See You
Film
See Yourself As Others See You
1928
[West Suburban Temple Picnic]
Film
[West Suburban Temple Picnic]
Chicago MLK Jr. March
Film
Chicago MLK Jr. March
July 26 1965
WTTW Ground Breaking
Film
WTTW Ground Breaking
October 15 1964
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To request more information about the items in this collection, please contact the archive at info@chicagofilmarchives.org.
Items with Viewable Media
Collection Identifier
C.2003-01
Language Of Materials
English
Subject
Travel
Racing
Baseball
Century of Progress International Exposition (1933-1934 : Chicago, Ill.)
Nigeria
Custodial History
The films in the O'Farrell Collection come from a wide variety of sources and previous storage conditions. Individual custodial histories are recorded on the level of series or individual objects, where applicable.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open to on-site access. Appointments must be made with Chicago Film Archives. Due to the fragile nature of the films, only video copies will be provided for on-site viewing.
Use Restrictions
Rights can be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Creators
William O'Farrell (was created by)
William S. "Bill" O' Farrell, 1954-2008, former head of Moving Image and Audio Conservation at the National Archives of Canada, worked at the National Archives from 1975, until his illness forced him to leave his position in 2002.

Over the years, Bill served as a mentor to many in the film archive profession in Canada and elsewhere. He will be remembered for his enthusiasm, imagination, knowledge and sense of humour. He began his career in moving images with Crawley Films and the federal Department of Urban Affairs. In 1975 he joined the Public Archives of Canada as a film vault technician. He quickly became responsible for the management of all film preservation projects at the archives. During Bill's tenure he oversaw numerous film restoration projects, including 550 reels of silent-era films excavated from Dawson City, Yukon Territories; the Flaherty collection of vintage 1896 Edison nitrate; the complete set of 106 Canadian Army Newsreels; and the oldest surviving copy of the Canadian feature film Back to God's Country.

Sam Kula, the former director of the National Film, Television and Sound Archives of the Public Archives of Canada, acknowledged in his posting to the AMIA listserv: "whatever success we had in building a national collection of moving images for all Canadians was due greatly to his efforts."

Bill also lectured at conferences and seminars, gave numerous workshops and wrote on the subject of audio-visual preservation. Bill was an active member of the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA). With AMIA he served as a member of the Executive Board and also chaired its preservation and awards committees. He served as an advisor to various film archives in Canada and the United States, including Northeast Historic Film and the Chicago Film Archives. He was one of the recipients of the 1997 Film and Video Preservation Honors from the Anthology Film Archives of New York, in recognition of his dedication and efforts in the field of film and video preservation. His loss will be felt in audio-visual archives around the world.
-Rosemary Bergeron and Yvette Hackett Library and Archives Canada/Bibliothèque et archives Canada