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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Tiny houses under fire by builders ... Local veteran's persistence pays off for all vets ... Second SOU candidate embraces liberal arts ... Tiny houses under fire by builders ... Local veteran's persistence pays off for all vets ... Second SOU candidate embraces liberal arts ... HISTORY The way we were: Old films reveal local history SOHS converting thousands of film clips to digital images Comment By Damian Mann Mail Tribune Follow @@reporterdm MailTribune.com By Damian Mann Mail Tribune Follow @@reporterdm Posted Jun. 1, 2016 at 5:45 PM By Damian Mann Mail Tribune Follow @@reporterdm Posted Jun. 1, 2016 at 5:45 PM » Social News Ah, the good old days. Remember being able to smoke during meetings, Beatlemania and preparing for riots? Those are some of the many local moments captured in film clips from the mid-1960s that have been converted into digital format for viewing at the Southern Oregon Historical Society. Diana Drews, SOHS development director, secured a $1,200 grant from the Jackson County Cultural Coalition that paid for a device attached to a projector that converts old film into digital archives. In 1965, a young Bill Mansfield, who is now on the Medford Planning Commission, can be seen speaking before the Medford City Council in one of the grainy black-and-white clips, which were produced by KOBI and KTVL. “The contrast between the Medford City Council then and now is quite striking,” local historian Ben Truwe said. “Everybody was on the same level and nobody was putting on airs. Now, they have stadium seating for the audience and the council is raised up on a wooden dais.” In the films of council meetings, audience members and the council are puffing away on cigarettes. Truwe supplied the RCA projector and added the little red box that sends a signal into a computer. So far Truwe and other volunteers, including Medford student Calder Hall, have converted clips from 84 boxes, each loaded with 18 cans of mostly silent film. They have worked on clips from 1965 to 1966, but have some that date to the early 1980s. In the SOHS archives, there are hundreds of boxes of films waiting to be transferred. Most of the clips are just a few minutes long. Truwe describes the process as tedious and time-consuming. Each reel has to be cleaned with a cloth to remove cigarette smoke residue. The most startling clip for Truwe is of local police practicing for potential riots at the former Miles Field in south Medford. “It was a chilling mindset that I didn’t want brought back to memory,” he said. Pat Harper, SOHS archivist, said she doubts the Historical Society will ever be able to afford to have the clips available on its website, other than a listing of the titles. “That would take a large amount of computer memory,” she said. Instead, SOHS will make the clips available for viewing at its offices at 106 North Central Ave., Medford. Eventually, the historical society could charge a fee if someone wanted a copy of the clip, she said. Truwe hopes that locals become interested in the clips to help identify some of the people and explain some of the mysteries, especially the “free coconut meat” clip from September 1965. In it, children and adults are making their way through small mountains of coconuts, cutting them open with a bandsaw and digging out the white flesh. The question remains: What did they do with all that coconut meat and why? “After watching the clip several times, I am no more enlightened that I was then,” Truwe said. One clip shows a long line of mostly women excitedly lining up to get autographs from The Liverpool Five, a somewhat less well-known band that was part of the British invasion that capitalized on the success of the Beatles. “Looks like we had our own little brush with Beatlemania right here,” Truwe said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/reporterdm . By Damian Mann Mail Tribune Follow @@reporterdm MailTribune.com By Damian Mann Mail Tribune Follow @@reporterdm Posted Jun. 1, 2016 at 5:45 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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