The debut of a 1940 film about Iola was anything but silent.
Chatter filled the Iola High School lecture hall as the Allen County Historical Society showed the recently discovered short film, Iola on Parade. The original film included no sound, but music was added to the digital, colorized reproduction shown to a crowd of about 80 on Tuesday evening.
Depictions of schoolboys roughhousing or employees lined up outside businesses like a bread factory, ice house or milling factory stirred memories. Members of the audience commented on the hairstyles and clothing of yesteryear: All girls wore dresses with their hair pulled back in ponytails, some boys wore overalls and others wore suits and ties.
The pictures also illustrated a demographic where very few children and adults were overweight, and where African American children walked alongside white children at local schools during a time when segregation and racism typically divided them.
The film was discovered about a year ago at the Iola Area Chamber of Commerce office when it was moved to the Bowlus Fine Arts Center, local historian Donna Houser said.
No information was found with the film, so local historians viewed it carefully to try to find details that would help identify the time period and some of those featured.
A license plate on a car in front of the ice plant proved to be their big break. At the time, vehicle license plates were issued on Jan. 1 of each year. Someone noticed a vehicle with a 1940 license plate. Historical society members then obtained a 1940 Iola High School yearbook and identified some of the marching band students featured. Those yearbooks were displayed during Tuesdays event.
The historical society showed the film uninterrupted, then played it a second time with commentary from Kurtis Russell, director of the Allen County Historical Society.
The film starts with footage of a train pulling into the Santa Fe Depot. Also featured is the 1904 Allen County Courthouse, where it was common for people to sneak up into its old bell tower and write their names on the bells, the clocks, the glass and the rafters, he said. A former Register reporter who wrote an article about the graffiti liked to sneak up to the tower to read books, Russell said.
Also highlighted were the old opera house, churches, the old archway at Riverside Park and the roof at the stadium that was blown away in an inland hurricane in 1986.
Footage of the Lehigh Portland Cement Plant (1900-1970) showed the property in its heyday, with smartly landscaped grounds and buildings.
Numerous other buildings were featured, including the Iola Register when it was covered with ivy. The S&H Bakery, now the site of Dales Sheet Metal, was located next door to the jail, which Russell joked probably served as cruel and unusual punishment for the prisoners.
Much of the film shows a parade of students from local schools. Construction had recently finished at Lincoln and Jefferson schools, both WPA projects, with mounds of dirt still visible on the grounds. The high school and middle school buildings are still used today, with modifications; in 1940, the third floor of Iola High School was used as the junior college.
DVD copies of the movies are available for sale through the historical society. The movie also can be viewed at the historical society. Anyone who might be able to identify those featured in the film are encouraged to contact the historical society or stop by and watch it, Russell said.
