Film, Motion Picture
They Builded a City, Lutheran Schools Pageant - Detroit 250th Anniversary
Part II
Silent, color 16mm film containing excerpts from the latter portion of the pageant "They Builded A City," put on by Detroit-area Lutheran schools on June 10, 1951, on the grounds of the Lutheran School for the Deaf at Nevada Avenue and Van Dyke in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Detroit's founding. The pageant features a series of scenes from Detroit's history as well as some concerning the history of Lutheranism in the area. A group representing a Sunday school teacher and his students appear on stage throughout the production. The footage is continued from reel 2015.011.051a. Audio from the production is available on the tape 2016.077.020.
The reel opens with a man in a suit on stage making a pitch to the audience for donations. He stands beside the Union army costume from the previous scene. The camera then cuts to the choir conductor.
In the next shot, a group of boys are in dark clothing and positioned around a table with a sheet of paper held behind them. As they gesture to the sheet. The Sunday school class stands beside a man at a typewriter, who portrays a Detroit News editor who praised the city's Lutheran community in the paper.
Another classroom scene follows in which students locate places on a globe. In a wider shot, signs reading "A Birthday Party at our Old Folks Home" (referring to the Evangelical Lutheran Old Folks Society in Monroe), and "Welcome 1911" (in reference to the activities of the Walther League in the area)
In a following shot, students in World War I-era military, medical, and industrial worker costumes line the stage. Several students also hold "Buy Liberty Bonds" banners.
In the next scene, a group of children are seated behind a desk with a "Save Our Schools" banner draped across its front. This scene concerns the Lutheran community's response to the campaign by James Hamilton to amend Michigan's constitution to ban private and religious schools. During this scene a police officer is also shown bringing a man with a boater hat before a seated individual. This presumably represents Father Gabriel Richard's 1820s conviction for defamation of character, which is briefly mentioned in the narration at this point.
In the next scene, a group of student in choir uniforms holds letters spelling out "Lutheran Hour," a nationally broadcast radio show which started in Detroit.
The remainder of the reel appears to contain the production's "March of Time" segment--costumed cast members from each of the play's vignettes walk across the stage.
The film is on a green metal reel housed within a grey metal canister, labeled Pageant Part II, June 1954." The reel is contained, along with 2015.011.051a inside of an olive mailing box with a pair of cards both labeled "They Builded a City, Lutheran Schools Pageant - Detroit 250th Anniversary" both inserted into its mailing label slot.
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Film, Motion Picture
They Builded a City, Lutheran Schools Pageant - Detroit 250th Anniversary
Part I
