The land that would become the state of Iowa has an abundant and diverse natural heritage. At the end of the 19th century, a conservation effort arose in the state that would begin to preserve existing and restore many of Iowa's original wetlands, prairies and forests. In 1917, the state of Iowa created what would become known as the Iowa Conservation Commission to fund and direct statewide efforts.
The 107 films of the Iowa Conservation Commission collection document nature, Iowans interaction with and use of the natural environment 1947-1957. Illustrating the results of more than a previous half century efforts to preserve the state's natural heritage.
History
The films were created for the Iowa Conservation Commission by the official photographer and visual documentarian for the commission, Jim Sherman, and his staff shortly after World War Two. For the next 20 years, the films were shared primarily via over-the-air television broadcasts and at promotional Commission events in Iowa and adjacent states, educating the public as to the operation and public works of the Conservation Commission.
Preservation
The original 16mm film collection consisting of the broadcast Outdoor Shop Talk production (A Roll production film) and supplemental video footage (B Roll elements film) were transferred to the State Historical Society of Iowa 2000-2022. While each film contained important historical information, they also were afflicted with acetic acid syndrome (aka vinegar syndrome). In addition, visual evidence indicated the films possess varying degrees of acetate shrinkage. The shrinkage is an effect of vinegar syndrome and was most noticeable on the first six inches of each film reel. By 2023 testing had shown the film deterioration had reached the critical stage which included accelerated and imminent shrinkage, warping and a human handling hazard. The odor emanating from the reels possessed such a severe nauseating vinegar odor that the fumes could cause loss of consciousness to staff and any members of the public that came in contact with the films. If immediate steps were not taken to reformat the films through digitization, the historic recorded content on the films would have been lost to history in just a few years.
In 2024, the State Historical Society of Iowa applied for and received a $18,971 Council of Library and Information Resources (CLIR) Recordings at Risk grant to reformat the recordings through digital preservation of 102 of the the 16mm Iowa Conservation Commission films still awaiting preservation. Please use the embedded link to access the checksum data for each film preserved as part of the grant. We thank CLIR for their funding support of our format conversation and digital preservation project to save this important Iowa historical film collection.
Accessing the Films
The films were created by the Iowa Conservation Commission, a state of Iowa government agency, and are open public records. Subsequently, there are no licensing fees charged associated with use of the films irrespective of the media distribution outlet. However, we do require users to use standard media citation and attribution to the State Historical Society of Iowa and the Iowa Conservation Commission collection if used for any project including commercial and educational. The only fees we will charge, per state policy, is for the staff time to retrieve and send to the requestor a copy of the high resolution master or mid-resolution mezzanine version or when a request is made to create excerpts of a film. Questions, please visit the Image Reproduction page on our website.
A cataloged description and a viewable MP4 file of each film is available by using this link to access a spreadsheet of all 107 films.