1992 Election Documentary Collection

Visit our Tour Destination: Illinois page to see the entire tour of the state’s Save America’s Treasures sites.

Bill Clinton at church in 1992.
Video still from the 1992 Election Documentary Collection,
Media Burn Independent Video Archive.

1992 Election Documentary Collection

Media Burn Independent Video Archives

Website:  Media Burn Independent Video Archive

The Treasure:  Footage of Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, H. Ross Perot, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, James Carville, Rahm Emanuel, Dee Dee Myers, George Stephanopoulos, David Axelrod, Jerry Brown, Paul Tsongas, and Carol Moseley Brown in the midst of the 1992 campaigns, with everyone jockeying for positions of influence in the high stakes world of American electoral politics.

Accessibility:  These tapes must be among the most accessible of all Save America’s Treasures projects! All 120 project videotapes can be easily accessed at the Media Burn Independent Video Archive. They’re just a couple of clicks away…

Background:  In preparation for a three-part national PBS series called The 90’s, independent producers fanned out from Chicago to videotape the 1992 presidential campaign. It was a season filled with surprises. The Democratic primaries remained a toss-up until Super Tuesday when then-governor Bill Clinton finally seized the lead. Then after the conventions, the path to the presidency proved unusually complex because of the on-again, off-again candidacy of H. Ross Perot.

Rahm Emanuel during the 1992 campaign.
Video still from the Media Burn Archive.

Tom Weinberg, founder of Media Burn and an executive producer of The 90’s, was one of the cameramen who worked on the project. Years later, he recalled: “When a few dozen of us independent videomakers were shooting these tapes in 1992, we knew it was unique and important — something that could not have been possible at any other moment in history.”

The cameramen who followed the early days of the Clinton campaign received unusually close access to Clinton’s strategic team, allowing close-up behind-the-scenes glimpses of a campaign poised to make history. Their footage captures early political use of the internet and e-mail as part of Clinton’s cutting-edge strategies.

George Stephanopolous in 1992.
Video still from the Media Burn Archive.

The Media Burn Archive preserves much more than just the 1992 Election Documentary Collection. After you finish watching the 450 hours of election footage, you can move on to enjoy more than 1,000 hours of other historic video treats, all streaming free of charge. Media Burn preserves over 6,000 videotapes covering the years from 1969 to the present, celebrating Chicago’s musicians, politicians, sports legends, radio personalities, community leaders, and neighborhood festivals. Special attention is paid to Media Burn’s inspiration, Chicago legend Studs Terkel who spent his life documenting the life of the city.

Hillary Clinton during the 1992 campaign.
Video still from the Media Burn Independent Video Archive.

Notes from the Editor:  CNN became a powerhouse in 1991 with its Gulf War coverage, establishing a demand for the 24-hour news cycle. As the presidential campaign heated up, cameras were everywhere, filming everything. So what happened to all the footage?

Much of the documentary videotape has been lost due to natural deterioration. The videotapes used by news teams in the early 1990s were designed for immediate use, with little to no thought given to long-term archival preservation. The filmmakers employed in the production of The 90’s used a new Hi-8mm format that turned out to be highly susceptible to corrosion problems. The tapes began to lose detail almost immediately. As producers moved to newer formats, the playback machines that supported the older formats were neglected or discarded. Soon the old tapes were deteriorating and there were no machines to even play them on.

The Media Burn 1992 Election Documentary Collection dwarfs all other surviving collections of this pivotal period. It preserves more than 450 hours of footage from the campaigns. The only other major source of behind-the-scenes 1992 campaign footage — the video shot by documentary film producer D.A. Pennebaker for The War Room (1993) — constitutes just 35 hours of material. Taken together, these two collections preserve an extraordinary record of an important time.

Considering the extreme inaccessibility of this material at the time when the Save America’s Treasures award was announced in 2009, we are indeed lucky to be able to so easily access, study, and enjoy these films today — simply by visiting a website and streaming the videos.

Original Hi-8mm videotape from the 1992 Election Documentary Collection
in storage at Media Burn Independent Video Archive.

Other Recommended Sites:  In the summer of 2012, Chicago’s Museum of Broadcast Communications re-opened in a handsome— and very green — building. The country’s national Radio Hall of Fame is located there. The Video Databank in downtown Chicago allows free in-person viewing of its video art collection. While the Chicago Film Archives does not have facilities for public on-site access, they are working to digitize their collections in order to increase their accessibility.

Bill and Hillary Clinton celebrate his Illinois primary victory in 1992.
Video still from the Media Burn Independent Video Archive.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Friday’s (11/9) destination:  Jens Jensen Park

© 2012 Lee Price 

Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago

View Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago in a larger map

Visit our Tour Destination: Illinois page to see the entire tour of the state’s Save America’s Treasures sites.

Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago.
Photo courtesy of Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago.

The same building as it appeared over 100 years ago:
The Palace of Fine Arts at the World's Columbian Exposition, 1893,
photographer C.D. Arnold.
Source:  Wikimedia Commons

Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago

57th Street and Lake Shore Drive

Chicago, IL

Website:  Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago

The Treasure:  Located in the only remaining major building from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago is the largest science center in the country.

Accessibility:  The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago is open daily from 9:30 to 4, with occasional special extended hours.

Background:   In 1893, millions of people from all over the world flocked to Chicago to see the White City and its many attractions. Officially known as the World’s Columbian Exposition but often referred to as the Chicago World’s Fair, this massive celebration of the Gilded Age opened in May 1893 and closed just seven months later in October. In that short time, an estimated 27 million people visited the fair. Then the gates closed, the people went home, and nearly all the 200 buildings were soon lost to fire or neglect. Of the major buildings that were located in Jackson Park, only the Palace of Fine Arts remains, reopened as the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago in 1933.

The Save America's Treasures grant
enabled the Museum of Science and
Industry, Chicago to address the
building's exterior masonry, including
the carved limestone.
Photo courtesy of the Museum of
Science and Industry, Chicago.

Chicago architect Daniel Burnham of Burnham and Root served as Director of Works in charge of the World’s Columbian Exposition, pulling together a distinguished team of architects who had to work on tight schedules and limited budgets. White stucco was used on most building exteriors and this “white” effect was then amplified by the use of new-fangled electric street lights, prompting the nickname “the White City” for the centerpiece Court of Honor area. The extensive grounds were designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the extraordinarily influential landscape designer of Central Park in New York City as well as many other major urban parks.

The Palace of Fine Arts was a sturdier building than many at the fair. Designed by architect Charles B. Atwood, the Palace of Fine Arts was constructed with a brick substructure that was then plastered over with the white stucco. Extra care went into its construction since it was to be the showcase for loaned art masterpieces from other countries. In a city known for its fires, the Palace of Fine Arts needed to be fireproof.

After the fair, the building became the home of the Columbian Museum of Chicago, renamed the Field Museum of Natural History in 1905. One of Chicago’s most venerable institutions, the Field Museum moved out of Jackson Park and to its current location in the Chicago Park District in 1921. For several years, the large building lay vacant. Fortunately, it was rescued for new use by philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears, Roebuck and Company, who pledged millions toward the establishment of an industrial museum to inspire children to become engineers, scientists, and doctors. While the conversion of the building included a replacement of the original exterior plaster with Indiana limestone, the overall appearance of the building today remains remarkably similar to how it looked when it was the Palace of Fine Arts in the White City in 1893.

One of Chicago’s most popular attractions, the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago sprawls over 14 acres, offering more than 400,000 square feet of exhibit space. It’s the largest science center in the western hemisphere and has welcomed more than 175 million guests since it opened in 1933. Among the most physically impressive of the 35,000 artifacts at the museum, there’s the Apollo 8 space capsule, a German U-boat submarine, and a United Boeing 727 aircraft that’s cantilevered to the museum’s east balcony.

The highly decorative areas of the Museum's East and West Pavilions were
most affected by Chicago's extreme weather.
Photo courtesy of the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago.

Closeup view of the Museum's East Knuckle rooftop.
Photo courtesy of the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago.

Notes from the Editor:  There are always special exhibits and events at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago but this one particularly interests me:  In 2012, the museum has been celebrating its origins with “The White City… Then and Now.” Offered on special days, it combines a virtual simulation tour of the World’s Columbian Exposition as it would have looked in 1893 with a 25-minute architectural walking tour.

Like many people, my interest in the World’s Columbian Exposition was piqued by Erik Larson’s non-fiction bestseller Devil in the White City. I suspect most readers are lured to the book by the real-life horror story of the serial killer H.H. Holmes. But while that story is undeniably fascinating, it’s easily matched in intensity by the parallel story of Daniel Burnham’s heroic efforts to build the World’s Fair and make it an international success for Chicago. In this rare instance, I thought the hero stole the show from the villain.

Other Important Sites:  Check Chicago’s tourism websites to see if there are any tours of World’s Columbian Exposition locations. While the Museum of Science and Industry provides the best indication of the actual scale and appearance of the White City, other remnants of the fair remain. Daniel Burnham led the effort to build the fair from the 11th floor of the Rookery Building (209 South LaSalle Street), a handsome building that the Burnham and Root firm designed in 1888. Various trees and lagoons in Jackson Park date back to the fair’s original landscaping. The Wooded Isle in Jackson Park was the site of Olmstead’s Japanese Garden. Midway Plaisance, a grassy median that runs through the University of Chicago, served as the main grounds of the fair. Here construction crews recently unearthed the foundations that supported the giant Ferris wheel that was one of the White City’s most famous attractions.

Chicago World's Fair 1893, a chromolithograph by H.D. Nichols,
published by L. Prang and Co. From the collection of the Boston Public Library.
Source:  Wikimedia Commons

Tour America's History Itinerary

Tuesday’s (10/30) destination:  1992 Election Documentary Collection

© 2012 Lee Price

Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home

View Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home in a larger map

Visit our Tour Destination: Illinois page to see the entire tour of the state’s Save America’s Treasures sites.

The Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home.
Jess Smith/PHOTOSMITH.
Photo courtesy of the Lake Country Forest Preserve District

Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home

St. Mary’s Road between Everett Road and Illinois Route 60

Libertyville, IL

Website:  Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home

The Treasure:  The Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home offers insights into the character and legacy of Adlai Stevenson — a popular Illinois governor, a dignified presidential candidate, and a forceful United Nations ambassador.

Accessibility:  The grounds of the Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home are open daily for self-guided tours from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. There are interpretive signs that offer historical information. Open from April to October, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the on-site service building (built in 1937, before Stevenson’s main house was completed) showcases exhibits about Stevenson’s life and career.

Exhibits about Stevenson's life and career.
Jess Smith/PHOTOSMITH.
Photo courtesy of the Lake County Forest Preserve District.

Background:  Whenever presidential elections approach, there’s an inevitable nostalgia for the days when campaigns were more civil. In reality, those times have been rare. For more than two centuries, election seasons have tended to be times of harsh partisan rancor. Perhaps the closest we can come to a golden age of civility would be the 1952 and 1956 contests between Dwight D. Eisenhower and Adlai E. Stevenson II (1900-1965), largely because of Stevenson’s thoughtful and self-deprecating eloquence on the campaign trail.

Adlai and Ellen Stevenson on the Stevenson
"Farm" (the family still calls it this).
Photo courtesy of the Lake County Forest
Preserve District.

Throughout most of his lengthy political career, Stevenson’s home base was his bucolic 70-acre property located near Libertyville, Illinois (in fact, he was promoted as “The Man from Libertyville” during his presidential campaigns). Stevenson and his wife Ellen Borden purchased the property in 1935. After their first house on the property burned down, they tried again in 1938, overseeing the construction of a spacious, art-deco house with large windows, porches, and decks positioned to offer charming views of the landscape. When staying at his home, Stevenson would work for hours in his study, writing books and composing speeches. He entertained many dignitaries here, notably including Eleanor Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.

Adlai E. Stevenson greets New York Governor
Averell Harriman to his Libertyville home.
Photo courtesy of the Lake County Forest Preserve District.

Although Stevenson never attained the presidency, he worked tirelessly in service to his country, leaving a legacy that touched many facets of American government and political thought. He served as a special attorney within Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Agricultural Adjustment Administration, as a Principal Attorney and special assistant to the Secretary of the Navy, as a special assistant to the Secretary of State, as a governor of Illinois, and as United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Immediately following World War II, he worked with the State Department on the establishment of the United Nations. Under President Kennedy, he famously confronted the Soviets at the United Nations during the Cuban missile crisis.

But Stevenson will probably always be best remembered by the general public as the dignified Democratic candidate for president in 1952 and 1956, always raising the level of political discourse with his intelligence. He was criticized by some for being too aristocratic and intellectual, but very few contenders have ever handled landslide losses with such dignity. A press photograph that showed a hole in the sole of his right shoe became a symbol of his tireless campaigning as well as his frugality. Called an “egghead,” Stevenson responded with a joke: “Eggheads of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your yolks.” Asked how it felt to lose his 1952 campaign, he paraphrased Abraham Lincoln:  “It hurts too much to laugh, but I’m too old to cry.”

Stevenson had a gift for oratory and an ability to convey an authentic vision of America. His words still inspire:  “There is a new America every morning when we wake up. It is upon us whether we will it or not. The new America is the sum of many small changes — a new subdivision here, a new school there, a new industry where there had been swampland — changes that add up to a broad transformation of our lives. Our task is to guide these changes. For, though change is inevitable, change for the better is a full-time job.”  (Quoted from a presidential campaign address in Miami, Florida, in September 1956.)

Adlai E. Stevenson in his study.
Photo courtesy of the Lake County Forest Preserve District.

Notes from the Editor:  It’s human nature to wonder, “What if…”

In at least three published pieces of fiction, alternative history plots move the Adlai Stevenson story in different and thought-provoking directions. In her 2008 novel Eleanor vs. Ike, Robin Gerber has Eleanor Roosevelt lead the 1952 Democratic ticket after Stevenson suffers a fatal heart attack. In his 2005 science fiction novel Alternities, Michael P. Kube-McDowell imagines a timeline where Adlai Stevenson was elected in 1956 and served two terms. And in his short story “The Impeachment of Adlai Stevenson,” David Gerrold conceives a situation where Stevenson is impeached and resigns in his sixth year in office.

While many pop culture references to Stevenson play on his two-time loser role, others have been more respectful. The popular singer songwriter Sufjan Stevens wrote a charming song about Stevenson that appeared on his 2006 album The Avalanche.

Other Recommended Sites:  The Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home is located in the Lake Country Forest Preserve District.  Also partially located within the district, the former U.S. Army base Fort Sheridan offers outdoor exhibits about the natural and cultural history of the area. Fort Sheridan functioned as an active military post from 1887 to 1993. The ravines and lakeshore environment of the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve offer a rare opportunity to glimpse the Lake Michigan landscape in its natural state.

Between the nearby towns of Mundelein and Wauconda, the Lake County Discovery Museum explores local history in a fun learning environment.

Interpretive sign at the Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home.
Jess Smith/PHOTOSMITH.
Photo courtesy of the Lake County Forest Preserve District.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Friday’s (10/12) destination:  Museum of Science and Industry

© 2012 Lee Price