Today’s story is by guest contributors John Morton, audio visual archivist at the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound (TAMIS), and Janine Winfree, assistant audiovisual archivist at TAMIS. Special thanks to Mary Pom Claiborne, assistant director for marketing, communications and development for Knox County Public Library, and Eric Dawson, manager of the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection.
Calling all Vol fans! You won’t want to miss Vintage Vols and Know-It-Alls at Xul Beer Company (213 E. Fifth Ave.) tonight, Nov. 13, from 7 – 9:30 p.m.
Celebrate UT’s Homecoming with an evening of historic Vols sports films, trivia and craft beer – all in support of the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound (TAMIS). Former Voice of the Vols Bob Kesling will emcee the night, with former Vols standout quarterback Heath Shuler joining in on the trivia. Even historic Vols icons like General Neyland and Lindsey Nelson will appear via one-of-a-kind highlights from TAMIS’ audiovisual collections. Tickets are $30 and are available online or at the door. The event is hosted by Friends of the Library.
In addition to trivia and a silent auction, TAMIS will also present rare footage of several Vols games over the years, including a recently rediscovered film that hasn’t been exhibited for nearly a century.
In 1927, UT football fandom was vastly different than it is today. While modern members of Vol Nation can see the game practically anywhere, their predecessors 98 years ago had limited options. Play-by-play radio coverage wouldn’t begin for another 22 years when Lindsey Nelson came on the air of the Vol Network in 1949. People could either attend the game in person or read about it in the following day’s newspaper. To see the game replayed was all but unbelievable then.
Enter enterprising Knoxville photographer and freelance newsreel cinematographer Jim Thompson.
He saw the potential; he understood the appeal of movie footage; and he knew that coach Robert “General” Neyland was spending his second year on the job bringing the Tennessee Vols to the national stage as a serious college football team. He also had the right tool for the job: the recently invented lightweight, portable 16mm motion picture camera. He set his sights on capturing the game, and there was no better place to start than one of UT’s strongest rivals: the Vanderbilt Commodores.
When the two teams took the field on November 13, Thompson was there, filming portions of the 7-7 tie game that signaled a sea change in the rivalry previously dominated by Vanderbilt. The following year, Neyland would lead Tennessee to an airtight 6-0 victory against the Commodores. From 1928 to 2011, Tennessee went 71-9-2 against Vanderbilt, with the longest winning streak lasting 22 games from 1983 to 2004. Jim Thompson captured Vols history in the bellwether tie game 98 years ago.
Thompson created this film to be shown publicly, and a 1929 photograph held by the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection at the Knox County Public Library depicts the Tennessee Theatre with the marquee advertising the “first motion pictures of U.T. Vanderbilt football game.” To enhance the film for its viewers, Thompson spliced in title cards that comment on the footage, like identifying future Knoxville mayor Jimmy Elmore pushing through the defensive line for an eleven-yard gain.
The footage reached TAMIS as a single 140’ reel of silent 16mm film that runs just over five minutes. TAMIS believes this is one of the earliest surviving films depicting the Vols football team at play. Thompson also shot the second oldest Vols film found in our collection: a 1928 Alabama-UT game at Shields-Watkins Field, depicting the Vols’ first homefield victory against Alabama in 14 years.
Nearly all of Thompson’s Vols films at TAMIS have aged gracefully, allowing archive staff to clean and scan the antique 16mm films with impressive results.
Don’t miss your chance to be among the very first to see this film in nearly 100 years by getting your ticket to Vintage Vols and Know-It-Alls tonight, Nov. 13, at Xul Beer Company. It’s a good day to be a Tennessee Vol!
Intrigued? Some further deep dives:
- Even Before TV, Local Photographers Documented the Vol Football Team on Film, by Eric Dawson (Knoxville Mercury, Oct. 16, 2016)
- A 1983 History of Coca-Cola Provides Insight Into the Vols’ Colorful 1940 Rose Bowl Trip, by Eric Dawson (Knoxville Mercury, Nov. 9, 2016) — watch the actual video here!
- Historic Vols football film found in home movies (WBIR, Feb. 5, 2018)