What's New

October 8, 2007
Read Ann Kelley's article on the Shawnee, Oklahoma Kidnapper's Foil in the Oklahoma City Oklahoman.

December 9, 2006
Listen to a story about Melton Barker, Caroline Frick and the Childress, Texas Kidnappers Foil on Weekend America Radio.

December 28, 2005
On December 28, 2005, the American-Statesman ran a follow-up article, including quotes from Melton Barker's stepson Jim Ponder.

November 26, 2005
The Austin American-Statesman ran an article on the search for Melton Barker and the Kidnappers Foil. As a result of the article, a flurry of new locations has been discovered, and information about Melton Barker has been provided by his stepson.

December 1, 2005

A panel on the films of Melton Barker was held at the Hilton Austin in Austin, Texas, as part of the Association of Moving Image Archivists' Conference.

Thursday, December 1, 2005, 2:15pm-3:45pm
Speakers:
Caroline Frick - Texas Archive of the Moving Image / University of Texas at Austin
Dwight Swanson - Appalshop
Judy L. Johnson - Childress Theatre Company (TX)
Stephanie Langenkamp - San Marcos Public Library (TX)

Texas Triage: Combining Preservation, Access and Entertainment with "Lost" Films of the Lone Star State

Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, itinerant filmmakers traversed North America, Europe, and Australia documenting towns and creating local 'stars'. Their films now serve as important visual catalogs of communities at specific moments in time, functioning, in a sense, as communal home movies. Through the work of Melton Barker, a Texas filmmaker who traveled across the country making local versions of 'Our Gang' short subjects, this panel will investigate how these archival artifacts recently have been rediscovered, preserved, and exploited. Open to all levels of participation, from media archivists and historians to those less familiar with film preservation and practice, this panel offers a range of perspectives on how ephemeral films can be effectively utilized by a broad range of organizations.