Gerald R. Ford Library
Audiovisual Collections
The Ford Library has extensive audiovisual
holdings in many formats. The audiovisual reference staff will
help you find, use, and purchase copies of the items you need.
You can reach the staff by e-mail or
call 734-205-0555).
- Descriptions of White House Collections
- Descriptions of Other Collections
Copyright Information
Much of the audiovisual materials, including all White House-produced
photographs, motion picture films, and audiotapes, are in the
public domain. Other material, such as donated items and White
House Communications Agency news videotapes, are subject to
copyright law.
The Ford Library makes copyrighted material and reproductions
available solely for private study, scholarship, or research.
Audiovisual researchers must obtain permission from the copyright
holder to publish or display materials, or deposit them in other
institutions. It is the researcher's responsibility to determine
copyright status. The library will provide what information it
can, upon request.
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Descriptions of White House Collections
White House Photographic Office (ca.
285,000 photos)
The office provided still-photographic coverage of Mr. Ford's
day-to-day activities as President. David Kennerly, a 
photojournalist
whom Ford met while Vice President, and four other photographers,
took approximately 285,000 photos of the President and his staff
and family. They took the photos in White House meeting rooms,
offices, and the family residence; at Camp David and aboard Air
Force One; during trips overseas, vacations in Colorado, and
campaign swings. Kennerly enjoyed exceptional access to the
President. White House photographers also documented Vice
President Rockefeller's activities, but the Ford Library has no
negatives and only some photos from this work. The photos in this
collection may be viewed in binders of "contact sheets,"
or small images on photographic paper of each roll of film,
arranged by the date the film was developed. These prints and
negatives are in the public domain, and copies may be purchased
and used without copyright restriction. There is no subject index
to the collection, but library staff can offer a variety of
strategies to help locate items. View
a sampling of photographs from this collection.
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Network News Videotapes (765 tapes)
The White House Communications Agency (WHCA) videotaped the
CBS, NBC, and ABC nightly news broadcasts and edited them to
delete stories unrelated to the President. WHCA broadcasted the
summaries via cable throughout the White House complex. WHCA also
taped all major broadcasts involving the President, including
Ford's and Nelson Rockefeller's Vice- Presidential confirmation
hearings, the Nixon resignation, the Nixon pardon announcement
and the subsequent Hungate Committee hearings, Ford's State of
the Union addresses and other appearances before Congress, news
conferences, much of the Republican National Convention, and the
Ford-Carter campaign debates. The videotapes are subject to
network copyrights. Although such public events as news
conferences are not copyrighted, the networks hold copyrights to
their reporters's commentaries and any other supplemental
information or images they provided. Researchers may acquire
copies of the videotapes, but use of the copyrighted portions is
restricted to private study and "fair use" in
scholarship and research under copyright law. WHCA kept a daily
log of its videotaping, and this log serves as an inventory of
the collection. In addition, library staff have compiled a few
topical lists of videotaped programs, August 1974-January 1977:
Vietnam War; Vice President Rockefeller; Watergate and Richard
Nixon; the Middle East; and intelligence activities,
investigations, and oversight. Researchers can also find nightly
news stories by using Television News Index and Abstracts,
published by the Vanderbilt Television News Archives.
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White House Communications Agency
Audiotapes (2,600 tapes)
WHCA taped President Ford's speeches, news conferences, and
other public statements. It also taped the daily press briefings
by the press secretary and his staff. Whenever White House staff,
Cabinet members, Members of Congress, or other persons gave a
press briefing at the White House, WHCA taped it. There are no
copyright restrictions on these tapes, and daily WHCA logs
inventory and describe them.
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Naval Photographic Center Film (710,000
feet of film)
Navy film crews covered the President, mostly at ceremonial
events and major news events. Their films are 16-mm color, and
most have magnetic sound tracks. A cross-reference index and shot
cards for each reel of film are available. There are no copyright
restrictions on this film.
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Descriptions of Other Collections
Gerald R. Ford Collections
Photographs, audiotapes, motion picture film, videotapes, and
film strips have been segregated from various segments of Gerald
Ford's non-presidential materials. The audiovisual archives keeps
them as the Ford Scrapbook Collection (1886) 1913-92; Personal
Collection, 1913- 92; Congressional Collection, 1933-73; Vice-Presidential
Collection, (1932) 1973-74; and Post- Presidential Collection,
1977-91.
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President Ford Committee Materials
Included are 32 primary and 71 general election Ford campaign
commercials, a 30-minute biographical film aired election night,
and miscellaneous commercials taped off the air from the
campaigns of Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, and others. Also
included are videotape, audiotape, and motion picture film used
in creating the Ford commercials. The President Ford Committee
donated to the people of the United States copyright to the
material it produced.
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Audiovisual Collections Donated By
Others
Many individuals have donated audiovisual items and
collections. For example, the Joseph McIntosh photo collection
documents the donor's and Ford's 1929 Eagle Scout guide
experience at Mackinac Island State Park, Michigan. The Peter
Vogt collection comprises materials accumulated in the production
of the film Gerald R. Ford: The Presidency Restored. Hofstra
University donated audiotapes and videotapes of its "Conference
on the presidency of Gerald R. Ford" (1989). There are
numerous other donors.
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Items Transferred from Manuscript
Collections
Collections of personal papers, institutional records, and
research interview transcripts, often contain audiovisual items,
sometimes in large number. For preservation purposes, archivists
segregate these items and transfer them to the audiovisual
collection. For example, the files of Mrs. Ford's press
secretary, Sheila Weidenfeld, contained hundreds of items on the
First Lady and her interests. Lists of segregated audiovisual
items are attached to the finding aids of the papers where they
were found.
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Gerald R. Ford Library And Museum
Events Collection
Included are audiotapes, videotapes, and still photographs
produced by or for the library and museum. They document events,
especially conferences, held at, or directly associated with, the
library or museum. Among the conferences are "Congress, the
Presidency, and Foreign Policy;" "New Weapons
Technologies and Soviet-American Relations;" "The
Presidential Nomination System;" "First Ladies: Private
Lives, Public Duties;" "Humor and the Presidency;"
and "The Presidency and the Constitution."
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URL: http://www.ford.utexas.edu/library/avmat.htm
Last Updated: July 25, 2003
photojournalist
whom Ford met while Vice President, and four other photographers,
took approximately 285,000 photos of the President and his staff
and family. They took the photos in White House meeting rooms,
offices, and the family residence; at Camp David and aboard Air
Force One; during trips overseas, vacations in Colorado, and
campaign swings. Kennerly enjoyed exceptional access to the
President. White House photographers also documented Vice
President Rockefeller's activities, but the Ford Library has no
negatives and only some photos from this work. The photos in this
collection may be viewed in binders of "contact sheets,"
or small images on photographic paper of each roll of film,
arranged by the date the film was developed. These prints and
negatives are in the public domain, and copies may be purchased
and used without copyright restriction. There is no subject index
to the collection, but library staff can offer a variety of
strategies to help locate items. View
a sampling of photographs from this collection.