film (3,875 ft.) : si., b&w and col. ; 16 mm. reversal pos.

1930 – 1938

Collection contains [Walter Aiken--home movies] with Massachusetts scenes of the aftermath of a 1938 hurricane in Lee (damage to homes, orchards, roads and factories) as well as the West Stockbridge centennial parade featuring the Lee fire company. Events recorded include a solar eclipse; 1932 and 1934 graduations at Colby Jr. College (now Colby-Sawyer College) in New London, NH. Also shown is a Florida family vacation in the early 1930s with footage of architecture, cars, beaches, parks and underwater scenes. Locations in Florida include Jacksonville, Clearwater, St. Augustine, Sarasota, Daytona, the Fountain of Youth, and Silver Springs.

Walter Aiken came from a family of New England innovators: his great-great-grandfather built the Mt. Washington Cog Railway and started the first automated knitting mills in Franklin (NH). Aiken graduated from MIT and Harvard Business School, then relocated to Lee, Massachusetts, where he started the Clark-Aiken Company (later purchased by Matik, Will Manufacturing, Korber Paper Link). Aiken opened the first radio store in Lee, experimented with electronics, and owned the first Packard touring car in western Massachusetts. Lawton Bourn, Jr., Walter's nephew, became interested in his uncle's films while studying Media Sciences at Purdue University.