Are you as excited as we are about Reunion Weekend, June 4, 5, & 6? Sign up online now! We’ll have some great gatherings and activities. Be a student again (all the fun, but no exams) and stay on campus in our award-winning Pondside III residence hall or the newly renovated Huntress Hall! Visit our Reunion web pages for more information!
Francis Ford as Abraham Lincoln in When Lincoln Paid (Courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
A couple of years ago, a local contractor was demolishing a barn in Nelson, N.H., when he came across a 35mm Monarch projector and seven reels of film. He donated his find to the Keene State College Film Society, which has determined that at least three of the films appear to be the only surviving copies of long-lost movies, including When Lincoln Paid, a film on an incident in Abraham Lincoln’s life, starring and directed by movie pioneer Francis Ford, the older brother of and greatest influence on famed director John Ford.
This brittle and damaged 30-minute two-reeler is of such historical significance that it easily won support from Tag Gallagher (author of John Ford), the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY, and the National Film Preservation Foundation, who rallied to restore the film. After being lost for 97 years, When Lincoln Paid will premiere in the Mabel Brown Room in the Student Center on Tuesday, April 20, at 4 p.m. and again in the Putnam Theater in the Redfern Arts Center, thanks to the sponsorship of the KSC Film Archives, Special Collections/Mason Library, the Film Studies Dept., and the KSC Film Society. The film is important for its historical theme, its place in film history, and for what it has to show about the techniques that influenced John Ford. The screening is free and open to the public.
Both Ford brothers were fascinated with Abraham Lincoln and made him the subject of many of their films. “There is nothing I like better than to play Lincoln. I have a big library devoted to this great man, and I have studied every phase of his remarkable character, and when I am acting the part, I can feel the man as I judge him,” Francis Ford is quoted as saying in an article by Ford scholar Tag Gallagher.
“Francis Ford is one of the most fascinating persons in film history…And he is known as the man who taught John Ford.” Gallagher said in a letter he sent in support of restoring When Lincoln Paid. Francis Ford made the first spectacular westerns in 1912, some of the first detective movies, and one of the first serials.
“Between 1912 and 1915 he played Abraham Lincoln in at least seven pictures. Alas, all of these pictures are lost. For nearly a century no one has been able to see Francis Ford as Lincoln,” Gallagher explained. “So now…to be told that I may get to see Francis Ford as Lincoln is thrilling news indeed.”
Check out these film clips from When Lincoln Paid. The first shows Confederate soldiers ambushing and pursuing John Wade, one of the film’s principal characters. The second shows Mrs. Wade pleading with Abraham Lincoln (played by Francis Ford) for the life of a young Confederate soldier:
If you’d like yet another reason to be proud of KSC, head to campus this Saturday, March 27, 9 a.m.–5 p.m., for the 10th Annual Academic Excellence Conference. You can see some of our best and brightest students presenting their fine work. Whatever your interest, you’ll find something to please: biology, chemistry, psychology, geography, math, literature, dance, education, health science – you name it! It all takes place in the David F. Putnam Science Center and the L. P. Young Student Center and is free and open to the public.
For more information, including a schedule with descriptions of each presentation, check out the AEC page.
David Krakauer
As a leader of the new wave of contemporary klezmer, David Krakauer and his Acoustic Klezmer Project will hit the Redfern stage on Wednesday, January 27. The New York Times notes that the band “hurls the tradition of klezmer music into the rock era,” forging a unique new sound from the genres of world music and jazz, rock, funk, and hip-hop. The music is firmly rooted in traditional klezmer, while at the same time appealing to today’s rock and world music enthusiasts. Krakauer will also conduct a lecture demonstration on the history of klezmer and its influences on American music at 2 p.m. at the Redfern.
Tickets for the evening performance are available at the Redfern box office, 603-358-2168, where you can also view video clips from the season’s Visiting Artists repertoire.
The Alumni & Parent Relations office is busy, busy busy these days with registrations for the June 5-7 Grand Reunion coming in by the hour!
We’re all hands on deck to be sure you and your guests have a great time:
Want more information about who’s going and what’s planned? We thought you’d never ask. A listing of Alums who have consented to share their attendance in advance of the big celebration and a full schedule of events with online registration can be found at the KSC alumni webpage.
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