In 2021, George Eastman Museum received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to catalog the Technology collection’s motion picture equipment. This collection consists of cameras, projectors, and ephemera, acquired over the years from numerous donors; the majority of the material was acquired from the Eastman Kodak Company’s Patent Museum. Established in 1925, it was a corporate museum established to archive the history of its own manufactured products, along with those produced by its competitors. The EKC Patent Museum also acquired items from other areas within the company including the engineer department and design departments. These collections were donated to the Eastman Museum in December 1989.
Pertaining specifically to motion picture equipment, the Kodak Patent Collection is especially strong in small gauge (16mm and 8mm) consumer cameras and projectors, which were used to document special events in people’s lives, such as birthdays, holidays, and various other special family gatherings, and vacations. For the June 24, 2023 talk, Technology Collection Manager Glenn Galbraith will showcase these small gauge objects from the Technology Vault.
Presentation is included with regular museum admission.