Clemens to lead state Chamber executives

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Dec 19, 2001

Historical films

Ned Hockman, who filmed historic events for the University of Oklahoma and taught there for nearly four decades, has supervised the gift of 3,845 reels of historic film to the Film Library of the Oklahoma Historical Society Archives.

The 1.88 million feet of film includes a wide variety of projects that include the University of Oklahoma, governors, documentaries, sports and other events, said Curator Bill Moore of the Historical Society Film Library. The film will be copied, catalogued and indexed for use by researchers.

"This donation is a major step toward our goal of establishing the Film Library as the primary repository of historic film, videos and equipment in Oklahoma," said Director Bill Welge of the Historical Society Archives. The collection now includes 14,207 reels with 8.5 million feet of film plus cameras and editing equipment."

Hockman is nationally recognized for his pioneering efforts in recording news events on film and in the education of television news photographers and editors, said Moore. Hockman led an effort for OU Continuing Education to attract the annual Television News Film Workshop of the National Press Photographers Association in 1951.

"That eventually became the Television Video News Workshop," said Hockman. "Last year, the 50th consecutive workshop at OU was co- sponsored by Sony and attracted 513 TV news photographers from all over the world."

Hockman, a native of Carnegie, attended OU before entering the U.S. Army in World War II. He became a military cameraman and shot film in China, India and Burma, including combat situations and flying in gliders. He returned to complete his bachelor's degree in history after the war and started teaching film classes in the OU Extension Division, which was led by Boyd Gunning and Thurman White.

Moore is supervising the task of making all films and videos in the Historical Society collection available to the public. For more information, contact Moore at 522-6307 or via email at bmoore30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays in January, last two or three hours and cost $3.Reservations are required.

The Chickasaw National Recreation Area offers free driving tours from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 12, Jan. 26 and Feb. 23.

Free tours also will be held at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Jan. 12 at Greenleaf State Park and at 9 a.m. Jan. 12, Jan. 26, Feb. 9 and Feb. 23 at Lake Thunderbird State Park.

Feel the approaching stampede

Visitors to the theater at the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan will feel the whip of the wind, the splash of a river and the shake of an approaching stampede.

Theater showings beginning next fall will be full of special effects -- including sights, sounds and smells.

"When it rains, you'll feel the mist coming," said Chris Jefferies, the center's director and historian. "When they cross the river, the water in the flooded river will splash out of the screen and into the theater."

Visitors will even smell the bacon cooking when it's time for chuckwagon supper on the cattle trail.