Aug. 13, 2018
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Charlie Cooper and Billy Joe Peyton will present “Charleston Beautiful on the Kanawha” in the Archives and History Library at the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex in Charleston on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. The program will begin at 6 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
The 1932 film Charleston Beautiful on the Kanawha was found when the Kearse Theater was torn down in 1982. Discovered in the projection booth of the palatial first-run house, this rare community movie was made at the dawn of the sound era in motion pictures.
Cooper, who has recorded sound for many movies, will discuss the film’s director Blundon Wills, a native Charlestonian, and the technology used to make the film through the showing of selected scenes. A local radio producer and disc jockey known as Super-Duper Charlie Cooper, he was named to the West Virginia Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2007.
Peyton, a history professor at West Virginia State University who has used Charleston Beautiful on the Kanawha in his classes, will add his reflections on Charleston locations highlighted in the historic film. He also is an author and authority on Charleston.
Participants may park behind the Culture Center after 5 p.m. on Aug. 16 and enter the building at the back loading dock area. There also is limited handicapped parking available in the new bus turnaround.
For additional information, contact the Archives and History Library at (304) 558-0230.
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