Jan Baross Film Collection, 1967-2001

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Baross, Jan
Title
Jan Baross Film Collection
Dates
1967-2001 (inclusive)
Quantity
264 films and tapes
Collection Number
Accession Number 25230
Summary
The collection includes 29 complete moving image works, 8 recorded plays, Baross family home movies, and various other film making elements.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Jan Baross was born in Oakland, CA in 1943 and raised in Bakersfield, CA. Her father was an orthopedic surgeon, her mother was a social worker and her brother eventually became an ER doc.

From an early age Baross’s mother took her across Asia, Africa and Europe. It was there Baross began her voluminous sketching of the many countries they visited, capturing the pre-T-shirt world of the post era.

At eighteen Baross left for San Francisco State University to major in art. It was the 1960s. She was living in the Haight, becoming a photographer and abandoned painting. She was the editor of the classic photo journal, “The Hippies,” published by the Idlewild Press. Her photos of The Free Speech Movement at University of California, Berkeley in 1964-5 were published.

In 1967 Baross married a marine microbiologist and moved to Seattle. She joined the Seattle Film Board and made award winning documentaries and animated films. She taught film making for Upward Bound at University of Washington.

By 1971 Baross and her husband had moved to Corvallis, Oregon for his post doc. At Oregon State, Baross taught filmmaking and got an MA in Communications. She worked for OSU making PSAs and was a film critic for The Corvallis Gazette Times.

After a divorce in 1985, Baross moved to Portland, Oregon and continued her filmmaking, joining the board of the NW Film Co-op. She became a film critic for The Business Journal. She also wrote magazine articles, features, made illustrations for The Jewish Review. She began writing screenplays, some of which were optioned.

In the latter 1980s, Baross joined the Artists Repertory Theater literary board. She also tried her hand at writing plays. During the 1990s, theatrical readings and productions followed in Portland, New York, Los Angeles, and Mexico. Some won awards and grants. One of her plays, “Mata Hari,” inspired a composer to write an opera of the same title for which Baross wrote the libretto. As winner of a national competition, the opera premiered at the Deep Ellum Opera Company in Dallas, Texas.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection contains home movies of family and travels, early film experiments, documentary films, television spots, fictional shorts, and recorded plays. Much of the work through the 1980s was created on film, and later materials on video.

The collection includes 29 complete films and television spots, various film and audio elements, recorded plays, 12 animation cels, and paper materials. Formats include 16mm film, DVD, Hi-8, VHS, Beta, U-matic, ¼” audio tape, cassette tape, cels, and paper. Many of the complete films are on multiple formats and most are contained on 3 compilation DVDs. Most of the works are documentary in nature, but there are also several fictional works.

Other Descriptive InformationReturn to Top

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any use of reproductions. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use of reproductions may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright holders.

Preferred Citation

Jan Baross Film Collection, Oregon Historical Society, Moving Images Collection

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Baross's materials are arranged by type of work:

Television Spots

Documentaries

Animation

Plays

Home Movies

Other

Location of Collection

Moving Images Collection

Custodial History

Materials were previously in the possession of Jan Baross, the creator, before she donated them to the Oregon Historical Society; some films had been in circulation by distributors.

Acquisition Information

Acc. 25230

Processing Note

Much of the film material in the collection was wound onto cores and recanned during processing, and minor repairs were performed on 16mm projection prints as needed.

Separated Materials

Oregon Historical Society possesses collateral printed ephemera related to Baross's films and screenings (fliers and news clippings) and two published books by Jan Baross: "Jose Builds a Woman," and "Ms. Baross Goes to Mexico: San Miguel de Allende."

^ Return to Top

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Television Spots:  Return to Top

Container(s) Description
MI 07942
Agricultural PSAs. 30 seconds each. Color. Agricultural research PSA spots about Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station at Oregon State University. 16mm projection print: MI 07942, DVD: MI 08295.
1986
MI 08294
Artists Repertory Theatre PSA. 30 and 40 seconds each. Color. PSA ads for Artists Repertory Theatre’s five year anniversary. DVD: MI 08294.
1986
MI 08295>
Great Kids PSA. 30 seconds each. Color. “Nobody’s perfect” and “Trashdancing” PSA ads. DVD: MI 08295.
undated
MI 08295
Jean Auel, Friends of Multnomah County Library PSAs. 30 seconds each. Color. Four library PSAs featuring author Jean Auel. DVD: MI 08295.
1986
MI 08294
John Powell for Secretary of State. 30 seconds. Color. Campaign ad. DVD: MI 08294.
1972
MI 08764
Lily Tomlin PSA. 2 minutes. Color. 16mm projection print: MI 08764. Additional elements in collection.
1970
MI 08294
Lutheran Family Services PSA. 30 seconds, 10 seconds. Color. “Are you tuning in to your kids?” PSA ads. DVD: MI 08294.
1989
MI 07944
OSU Foundation PSAs. 60 seconds each. Color. Six fund-raiser spots for Oregon State University Foundation focusing on agriculture and arts. 16mm projection print: MI 07944.
undated
MI 08294
United Way PSA. 2 minutes. Color. PSA ad. 16mm projection print: MI 07943, DVD: MI 08294.
1975

DocumentariesReturn to Top

Container(s) Description
MI 07916
As If By Magic. 12 minutes. Color. The making of puppets for the opera Carmen by a master puppet maker, and the performance of Carmen highlights with puppets. 16mm projection print: MI 07916, DVD: MI 08293. Additional formats, work prints, and elements in collection.
1982
MI 08769
Bertha. 5 minutes. Color. Biography of Baross's 90 year old grandmother from Russia. Projection Print: MI 08769, DVD: MI 08295.
1970
MI 08770
Bertha (black and white). 6 minutes, 15 seconds. Black and white. Biography of Baross's 90 year old grandmother from Russia. Projection Print: MI 08770, DVD: MI 08295.
1970
MI 08068
A Day At Teledyne Wah Chang. 18 minutes. Color. Overview of operations at the Teledyne Wah Chang industrial plant in Albany, Oregon. Shows overall operations and production processes for zirconium and by-products halfnium and ammonium sulfate. 16mm projection print: MI 08068, DVD: MI 08294. Additional formats, work prints, and elements in collection.
1989
MI 08295
Everyone Hates My Dog. 5 minutes. Color. People complaining about, and footage of, Tazmania, the dog. DVD: MI 08295. Additional formats in collection.
undated
MI 07945
Gotta Start Somewhere. 12 minutes. Color. By Jan Baross and Dan McCraw. Film about a special media program at Oregon State University for at risk youth to learn work in broadcasting. Projection print: MI 07945, MI 08294.
1973
MI 07909
Happy Feet. 13 minutes. Color. History of Baross’s mother and extended family. Projection print: MI 07909.
1982
MI 08295
The Healing Touch. 4 minutes. Color. The laying-on of hands, reiki, touch as homeopathic medicine. DVD: MI 08295.
undated
MI 07902
Heart Of The Valley. 22 minutes. Color. History of Corvallis, Oregon and the Willamette Valley. Interviews with descendants of founders. 16mm projection print: MI 07902, DVD: MI 08293.
1976
MI 08294
In The Footsteps Of Columbus. 24 minutes. Color. Film about historic exhibit by Oregon Historical Society and Oregon Jewish Museum about Jewery in America and Oregon from 1654-1880. DVD: MI 08294. Additional formats and elements in collection.
1993
MI 05085
International Seed. Unknown length. Color. Various 16mm elements in collection.
undated
MI 08294
Man In The Biosphere. 6 minutes. Color. Tom McCall narrates a film on the uses and resources of Oregon and Andrews Experimental Forest. DVD: MI 08294.
1980
MI 08295
Northwest Natural Gas. 1 minute excerpt. Color. Training film. DVD: MI 08295.
undated
MI 07900
Nothing Comes Easy. Unknown length. Color. Various 16mm elements in collection.
undated
MI 07926
Oregon Woodcarvers. 24 minutes. Color. Four Oregon woodcarvers are profiled: Gary Hauser, Douglas MacGregor, Roy Setziol, and Ed Quigley. 16mm projection print: MI 07926, DVD: MI 08293. Additional formats, work prints, and elements in collection.
1980
MI 08295
That Five Star Feeling. 13 minutes. Color. Biography about Baross’s eccentric mother, Estelle Meadoff, who lived in a 5 star hotel in London for 30 years. DVD: MI 08295.
1998
Container(s) Description
MI 08058
Full Tilt Finale. 8 minutes. Color. Psychedelic romp in which three friends—one played by Jan Baross—vaguely try to stop a bomb from blowing up Seattle. 16mm projection print: MI 08058, DVD: MI 08293. Additional work prints and elements in collection.
1969

AnimationReturn to Top

Container(s) Description
MI 07940
The Boy And The Flower. 3 minutes, 25 seconds. Color. Mix of animation and live action. Boy resists authority and assimilation. 16mm projection print: MI 07940, DVD: MI 08293. Additional work prints and elements in collection.
1968
MI 07937
The Computer Said. 2 minutes. Color. Comedic presentation of a computer learning to speak and sing. 16mm projection print: MI 07937, DVD: MI 08293. Additional formats, work prints, and elements in collection.
1968
MI 08064
The Friendly Skies. 4 minutes, 20 seconds. Color. Comedic story of nature thwarting military-industrial complex. 16mm Projection print: MI 08064, DVD: MI 08293. Additional formats, work prints, and elements in collection.
1969
MI 07941
The Scraatch. 2 minutes, 44 seconds. Color. Mix of live action and “animation.” Two lovers fight are attacked by aggressive scratches in the film. 16mm projection print: MI 07941, DVD: MI 08293. Additional formats, projection prints, work prints, and elements in collection.
1970
MI 08076
Weird Arthur. 1 minute, 30 seconds. Color. Stop action love story of two dough-people. 16mm projection print: MI 08076, DVD: MI 08293. Additional formats and elements in collection.
1970
Container(s) Description
various
Plays. Recordings of plays exist on VHS, Hi 8, or audio cassette. Titles: Breaching May 8; Ghost of Rhoddy Al; He, She, It; Little Favors; Love Bites (1992); Mati Hari; Snow Storm; The Woman Who Walked With a List.
various

Home moviesReturn to Top

Container(s) Description
MI 08780
Home Movies. Color. Collection of family home movies on 8mm and Super 8. Various travel footage.
1960s-1980s.
Container(s) Description
MI 08290
Animation Cels. 12 cels. Color. Cels from the short film The Computer Said.
1968

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Personal Names

  • Baross, Jan
  • Baross, Jan--Archives

Geographical Names

  • California
  • Oregon
  • Pacific Northwest
  • Washington

Form or Genre Terms

  • Motion pictures
  • Short films

Occupations

  • Motion picture producers