Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Challinor Family Home Movie Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.1233
Creators:
Challinor, Joan R.
Challinor, David, 1920-2008
Dates:
1956-1965
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
1 Cubic foot
7 films
Reels AC1233-OF0001 and AC1233-OF0002 are composite reels created by the Archives Center, National Museum of American History, the former comprising "Children Summer, Fall, and Winter, 1956-1957" and "Challinor Family Home Movie, 1957" and the latter comprising "Guilford, 57-58" and "Challinor Family Home Movie, 1959"
16mm
Repository:
David Challinor served the Smithsonian Institution in an official capacity for 30 years, eventually becoming the assistant secretary to Sidney Dillon Ripley. Joan R. Challinor became an historian and advocate of library sciences and education. In 1956, however, they were busy with their young family. David only returned to university for graduate school in 1957, in his late 30s. They both went on to have successful careers and active family lives. This collection includes 7 home movie films that document thte Challinor family.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The collection comprises seven silent 16mm color home movies depicting David and Joan Challinor, their four children, and other family or friends. Subject matter includes the family's home in Connecticut as well as family vacations throughout the northeastern United States and Bermuda, Switzerland, and Iceland.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Collection organized into one series.
Series 1, Motion Picture Film, 1956-1965

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
David Challinor and Joan Ridder Challinor were married in 1952 and lived in Houston, Texas where David worked as a cotton broker, farmer, and then a mortgage banker. They had four children: Julia, Mary, Sarah, and David, and six grandchildren. In the late 1950s, they settled in Connecticut, where David pursued graduate studies in forest ecology at Yale University and during which time the couple made home movies.
From 1960-1964, David Challinor served as the deputy director of Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History under Sidney Dillon Ripley, and in 1965 became the acting director after Ripley became the Smithsonian's secretary. When in 1966 Challinor received his doctorate from Yale University, Ripley recruited him to serve as the Special Assistant for Tropical Biology of the Smithsonian's Office of the Secretary. From 1967-1971 he served as the deputy director and, subsequently, the director of the Office of International Activites. He then served as Assistant Secretary for Science and Research for sixteen years before becoming the Science Advisor to the Secretary prior to his retirement in 1996 when he was named Scientist Emeritus for the National Zoological Park. He died in 2008, leaving a professional legacy of conservationism.
During Challinor's tenure as Assistant Secretary for Science and Research at the Smithsonian, Joan R. Challinor pursued graduate studies in history at American University, receiving her doctorate in 1982. Her work involved serving on numerous committees and organizations, many of which were library and education related, including the Schlesinger Library Advisory Committee and the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. Through the 1980s and 1990s, she lectured at American University, was a research associate at the National Museum of American History, wrote numerous essays, edited two books, and even produced a documentary film about Thomas Paine. She was also the director of Knight Ridder, Inc., a print media company, from 1989 until 2001. She continues to live and work in the Washington, D.C. area.

Administration

Author
Jeremy Love
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated by Joan Challinor in 2011.
Processing Information
When applicable, titles were derived from informal titles written on the original film cans. When an original title did not exist, the Archives Center used the default title [Challinor Family Home Movie] with the appropriate date modifier attached.
Processed by Jeremy Love,intern, June, 2014; supervised by Wendy Shay, audiovisual archivist.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Privacy rights of filmed individuals may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Preferred Citation
Challinor Family Home Movie Collection, 1956-1965, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Related Materials
Materials at Other Organizations
The Schlesinger Library of the Radcliff Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University holds the "Papers of Joan R. Challinor, 1848, 1975-2008", which includes her correspondence, meeting and conference materials, articles, speeches, reports, photographs, and audiotapes (Accession #MC 678; T-446).
The Smithsonian Institution Archives holds numerous archival collections, including photographs, papers, files, records, and oral histories related to David Challinor.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Massachusetts Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
White Mountain National Forest (N.H. and Me.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fourth of July celebrations Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hiking Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mount Snow Ski Resort Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Skis and skiing Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Holidays Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Camping -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Biologists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Family vacations Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vermont Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Conservationists Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Naturalists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
16mm motion picture film Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Murten (Switzerland) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Noroton Heights (Darien, Conn.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Switzerland Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Swimming Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Christmas Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sierra Nevada (Calif. and Nev.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Yosemite National Park (Calif.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Iceland Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Half Dome (Calif.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Yosemite Valley (Calif.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bermuda Islands Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Guilford (Me.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Maine Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Norfolk (Conn.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Amateur films Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Historians Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Guilford (Conn.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
archivescenter@si.edu