The Scudder Family Films, held by the Archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee State University, consists of eleven reels of 16mm home movies that document the leisure activities of an affluent white family in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Each reel is comprised of several scenes or clips. Much of the footage was shot outside of a large house that has been identified as a residence on Lynwood Avenue in Glenside, Pennsylvania. Other footage documents extensive travel, including trips to Panama, the West Indies, and Atlantic City, New Jersey. There is also footage from a military academy; a cemetery in Trenton, New Jersey; and outdoor activities such as golf, horseback riding; croquet, and hockey. One reel includes title cards indicating locations in the American and Canadian West; the second part of this reel is a promotional film from Banff, Alberta, Canada.
These films were purchased at the 1989 auction of the property of the Johnson City Foundry and Iron Works Company and were thought to have a connection to the Glenn W. Setzer family of Johnson City, Tennessee. The nature of the connection, if any, is unknown. The Scudder family name was determined with research help from Old York Road Historical Society in Jenkintown, Pennysylvania; a property atlas; and ship passenger lists from the 1930s.
The films are silent and black and white with the exception of the second part of the reel titled “Kids, Home, Melrose” which is in color. Limited documentation in the Archives collection files indications that some films were duplicated in 1936 from earlier films.
