William Cheney Motion Picture Collection, circa 1920-circa 1970

Overview of the Collection

Photographer
Cheney, William C., circa 1898-circa 1977
Title
William Cheney Motion Picture Collection
Dates
circa 1920-circa 1970 (inclusive)
Quantity
31 film reels  :  silent, b&w and color  ;  16 mm.
Collection Number
Mic 4
Summary
This collection consists of Bill Cheney's home movie projects. Some record recreation such as mountain climbing. Others cover travels to California and Oregon, or document jobs he worked on. Many record life in the Pacific Northwest, especially in the Seattle, Wash., area.
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
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Funding for preparing this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

William Cheney was a machine shop operator and inventor. As a child in Oregon City, Or., Bill became interested in photography. While still in school, he discovered astronomy and started mountain climbing to take advantage of the clear air at high altitudes. To further his photography, Cheney built telephoto lenses for his cameras and also experimented with slow-motion and split-screen photography. Cheney joined the Portland-based Mazamas mountaineering organization in 1922, when he lived at Tillamook, Or. He and his wife lived at Oceanside, Or., in 1927, then in the Portland area briefly before moving to Longview, Wash., about 1930. They moved to Seattle about 1933.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

This collection consists of Bill Cheney's home movie projects, filmed in black-and-white and color. Some record recreation and entertainment, such as mountain climbing; fishing; rodeos, including the Pendleton Roundup; circuses; and speedboat racing. Others cover travels to California and Oregon or document jobs he worked on, most notably bridge, railroad, and tugboat construction for logging. Many of the films record life in the Pacific Northwest, especially in the Seattle, Wash., area. A commercial film on a 1940 corn husking contest also is included. Although some of the films cover a single time period, many are compilations of material that cover extended time periods.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Alternative Forms Available

Viewing copies are available at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library for all films except 02183 CHEN and 02446 CHEN.

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 before any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

William Cheney Motion Picture Collection (Mic 4), Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The films are individually numbered. They have been organized into two series and arranged chronologically:

  • Series A: Home Movies
  • Series B: Commercial Film

Acquisition Information

Gift of David Cheney.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Series A::  Home Movies, 1920-1968Return to Top

30 reels
Description Dates
01461 CHEN: [Job #2, logging operation, bridge—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (12 min., 417 ft.) : silent, b&w ; 16 mm.
Scenes of welding, bridge building, machinery, and vehicles. Part of welding sequence is on lenticular film.
[192-]
01462 CHEN: [Job no. 3, bottlemaking, bridge construction—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (8 min., 303 ft.) : silent, b&w ; 16 mm.
Various industrial scenes, including a bottle plant, bridge construction, and logging.
[1920-1940]
01478 CHEN: [Pendleton Round-Up—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (41 min., 1,447 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
Scenes from the Pendleton Round-Up rodeo, including the parade through town, taken over several years. In addition to the parades, there is footage of the bucking horse event (filmed partly in slow motion), calf roping, and various races. Additionally, there is a panorama of Pendleton, and a wonderful sunset sequence.
[circa 1920-circa 1959]
01460 CHEN: [Job no. 1, repairing freight cars and Cheney invention—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (12 min., 435 ft.) : silent, b&w ; 16 mm.
Repair yard for lumber company railroad.
[1925-1929]
01463 CHEN: [Construction of logging boomer tug—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (10 min., 362 ft.) : silent, b&w ; 16 mm.
Fabricating parts and assembling a tugboat. Also includes footage of a bear cub.
[circa 1925-circa 1930]
01465 CHEN: [Old Olympic loop no. 2—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (4 min., 126 ft.) : silent, b&w ; 16 mm.
Scenes of Native Americans dancing, a baseball game, and canoes and boats, on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state.
[circa 1925-circa 1930]
01464 CHEN: [Old Olympic loop no. 1—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (12 min., 430 ft.) : silent, b&w and color ; 16 mm.
Scenes on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state, including a derelict riverboat, snap pea harvesting, clam digging, forests and clearcutting, fish stocking, and wildlife. Includes scene of William Cheney cooking pancakes.
[circa 1925-circa 1934]
01458 CHEN: [Mazamas outing #2—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (13 min., 457 ft.) : silent, b&w and color ; 16 mm.
Scenes include group climbs in the Mt. Baker area of the Washington Cascades, a parade of floats, and a small airplane from West Coast Air Transport Co.
1930
02183 CHEN: [The Moon —William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (4 min., 104 ft.) : silent, b&w ; 16 mm.
Views of a gibbous moon.
[193-]
01459 CHEN: [Mt. Baker skiing —William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (12 min., 422 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
Many scenes of autumn foliage in color, along with black & white footage of ski jumping competitions.
[1931-1940]
01466 CHEN: [Olympic, Grays Harbor logging, flood at Longview —William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (13 min., 472 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
Scenes around western Washington, including a timber carnival, the U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides), fishing, and the Longview flood of 1933.
[1933-1934]
01468 CHEN: [Seattle —William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (2 min., 77 ft.) : silent, color ; 16 mm.
Scenes around the Seattle area, including retail areas, industrial areas, and restaurants.
[1934]
02171 CHEN: [Climb into eight caves : St. Helens and Mt. Adams—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (12 min., 422 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
A family hike and picnic with visits to two large caves. Several scenes were photographed underground.
[circa 1935-circa 1945]
01472 CHEN: [Seattle, Christmas, boat show, vaudeville, 13th Shriners ice carnival, neon lights—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (12 min., 422 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
Scenes of life around Seattle in the World War II era, including the waterfront, scrapped airplanes, neon signs at night, a clam-eating contest, boat show and entertainment.
[circa 1939-circa 1945]
01476 CHEN: [Circus and rodeo—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (23 min., 827 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
A visit to the Cole Bros. Circus and a small rodeo. The film includes setting up the traveling circus tents.
[circa 1935-circa 1945]
01477 CHEN: [Fish hatchery, Celilo Indians fishing, Crater Lake—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (42 min., 1,502 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
Compiled from several trips through Oregon. Includes a trout hatchery, parade, Lambert Gardens in Portland, distilling mint, picking strawberries, Oregon beaches, a fire, smelt, Bonneville Dam, Celilo Falls, Crater Lake, forests, sagebrush, mountains, farm animals, lava fields, hunting, and power plants.
[circa 1935-circa 1945]
01481 CHEN: [Montana—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (26 min., 917 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
A trip through Montana featuring a burning house, clearing brush from the edge of the road, many mountains and rivers, a dam and power house (possibly Fort Peck Dam), crossing the Continental Divide, and industrial buildings.
[circa 1935-circa 1945]
01471 CHEN: [Seattle—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (50 min., 1,803 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
Scenes around the Seattle area during the Depression and World War II. Includes a snow storm, auto racing, a Hooverville, baseball, fishing, navigation locks, Boeing Field, a wartime scrap metal drive, a soap box derby, the Lake Washington floating bridge, and several parks.
[circa 1935-circa 1949]
01479 CHEN: [Oregon coast to San Francisco world's fair—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (43 min., 1,546 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
Documenting a trip down the Oregon coast beginning north of Heceta Head, and continuing, through road construction, to the San Francisco World's Fair on Treasure Island.
1939
01474CHEN: [Seattle, Wenatchee, Vantage, Gingko—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (19 min., 670 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
Scenes around Washington state, including maintaining roads by burning grass on the shoulders, mountains, wildflowers, parades, apple orchards, family outings, fireworks, farming, the Gingko Petrified Forest, and rock art.
[circa 1940-circa 1949]
01480 CHEN: [Death Valley—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (27 min., 966 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
A tour through Death Valley, California. Includes wildflowers, especially cactus, and salt mining.
[circa 1940-circa 1949]
01483 CHEN: [Yellowstone—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (26 min., 934 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
Summer vacation trip including the floating bridge on Lake Washington, Mt. Rainier, and Crater Lake on the way to Yellowstone Park. Scenes in the park include mudpots, geysers and waterfalls.
[circa 1940-circa 1949]
01475 CHEN: [Seattle, boat trips, airport, parade—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (42 min., 1,489 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
Scenes around Seattle, especially the harbor, the airport, the ferries. Also includes trips to Westport, Wash., and Victoria, British Columbia. The film ends with the 1953 Parkland Roundup parade.
[ca. 1940-ca. 1955]
01470 CHEN: [Boat tour, shrimping, Gold Cup boat race, Seattle—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (50 min., 1,743 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
Scenes around the Seattle waterfront, including Grayline Tours, fishing, boats passing through locks and under bridges, catching and steaming shrimp, Gold Cup speedboat racing, and celebrations.
[1945-1946]
01469 CHEN: [Mt. Rainier—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (47 min., 1,699 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
A trip to Paradise Inn and around Mount Rainier.
[circa 1945-circa 1949]
02446 CHEN: [Sun and moon—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (25 min., 687 ft.) : silent, b&w and color ; 16 mm.
Images of the moon during several phases and several images of the sun.
[196-]
01467 CHEN: [Retail strike, ocean beaches, flowers—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (7 min., 251 ft.) : silent, color ; 16 mm.
A miscellany of scenes: a fountain in Seattle, children's carnival rides, pickets during a retail workers strike, driving through the mountains, the Oregon beach, garden flowers.
[circa 1960-circa 1968]
01473 CHEN: [Seattle—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (37 min., 1,303 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
Street scenes around Seattle, parades in Portland (Rose Festival) and Seattle (Seafair), 1962 World's Fair, the Jackson Court House historic site, and a circus act.
[circa 1960-circa 1968]
01482 CHEN: [I.O.O.F. circus, Seattle, Death Valley—William Cheney—home movies]
1 film reel (34 min., 1,208 ft.) : silent, color and b&w ; 16 mm.
An outdoor fundraiser, the I.O.O.F. [International Order of Odd Fellows] circus, mainly small booths; various views of Seattle showing the Space Needle; a trick photography section done with double exposure that has Bill Cheney talking to himself; a trip to Death Valley, California.
[circa 1962-circa 1965]

Series B::  Commercial film, 1940Return to Top

1 reel
Description Dates
04310 CHEN: [National corn husking contest]
1 film reel (incomplete: 6 min., 225 ft.) : opt., b&w ; 16 mm.
Highlights of the 1940 national corn husking contest. It includes scenes of Native Americans dancing at the opening ceremony. Shows part of a plowing competition held in conjunction with the corn husking contest. Also shows several corn-husking competitors. A Travelon picture. Producer: Dubay.
1940

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Airports--Washington (State)
  • Boats and boating--Washington (State)
  • Bridges--Design and construction.
  • Circus--Washington (State)
  • Coasts--Oregon
  • Indians of North America--Washington (State)
  • Logging railroads.
  • Mountaineering--Washington (State)
  • Mountains--Washington (State)
  • Ski jumping--Washington (State)
  • Trick photography.
  • Vacations.
  • Welding.

Corporate Names

  • Century 21 Exposition-- (1962: Seattle, Wash.)
  • Golden Gate International Exposition-- (1939-1940: San Francisco, Calif.)
  • Mazamas (Portland, Or.)
  • Pendleton Round-Up

Geographical Names

  • California.
  • Celilo Falls (Or. and Wash.)
  • Crater Lake National Park (Or.)
  • Death Valley (Calif. and Nev.)
  • Fort Peck Dam (Mont.)
  • Gingko Petrified Forest State Park (Wash.)
  • Montana.
  • Mount Rainier National Park (Wash.)
  • Oregon.
  • Puget Sound (Wash.)
  • Seattle (Wash.)
  • Victoria (B.C.)
  • Washington (State)
  • Yellowstone National Park.

Form or Genre Terms

  • Home movies and video

Finding aid prepared by Mikki Tint
2004

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