Greetings. My name is Jeremy Spracklen, and I am the moving image curator of the G. William Jones Film and Video Archive inside the Hamon Arts Library. One of my current projects is the digitization of the Library’s WFAA Newsfilm footage spanning from 1960 to 1977. Every other week I’m going to share a set of clips that I’ve found while working on the collection. They may not all be significant about the history of Dallas, but I still find them each fascinating for what they reveal about life in Dallas-Fort Worth 40-50 years ago.
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This week, I have collected three segments from late September of 1971. Our first set of clips starts off with two sides of the same story. DFW residents are being interviewed by Jerry Haynes (aka Mr. Peppermint) about the coming of a new sports team. This is followed by locals from Washington, DC, being asked their feelings about the loss of their ball club—the Washington Senators (soon to become the Texas Rangers). Also of note, Tom Landry gives his thoughts about the addition of another sports franchise to the Metroplex.
The second clip shows an interesting array of the sorts of things found in parking meters, aside from proper currency. While this may not be of historical value, this is an example of a fun human interest piece that can be found in the collection.
Lastly, there is film of the first event ever held at the new Texas Stadium. The Billy Graham Greater Southwest Crusade was held in the facility a full month before the Cowboys played a football game there. In the footage, you can see Billy Graham arriving with President Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson as well as other dignitaries on stage like Texas Governor Preston Smith.
Check back bi-weekly for new and exciting clips from the WFAA Newsfilm Collection.
Featured image: courtesy of Jeremy Spracklen