A Rare Interview
Hills & Dales Estate recently received a very unique gift from Doug Roberts of West Point, Georgia. The gift consists of five rolls of 35 mm film featuring a 1994 garden tour and interview with Alice Hand Callaway. It also includes a film log book and accompanying video tapes of the footage, all recorded by Commercial Sight & Sound.
Mr. Roberts received the collection after the company disbanded and since that time it has been kept in storage. Some of the video is included on a DVD entitled Ferrell Gardens: A Growing History, which was created by Troup County Archives. However, much of the footage has not been seen since it was originally shot.
We are planning to have the cache digitized so that excerpts can be used to tell the story of the garden on our website and shared with other research organizations. Digitizing will also help us preserve the historic footage as this is the only known surviving film of Mrs. Callaway, and a treasure indeed.
