Stillman, Ernest G. Collection

SummaryCollection contains [Ernest G. Stillman--home movies], 15 reels of summer activities around Mt. Desert Island, and Cranberry Island, Maine. The collection includes footage of the 1947 fire that destroyed much of the area. Other reels include intertitles punctuating footage of commercial fish catches going into the hold with salt, every stage in the herring seining process, yachts and fishing boats in the waters around Mt. Desert harbors, boatyards and wharves, buildings under construction, logging, a local sawmill, and shoreline scenery. One scene focuses on a schooner carrying a cargo of cord-wood on deck, another follows a barge carrying a portion of a house in a huge net. Dr. Stillman spliced cartoon scenes in several places to contrast with the scenery of Maine.

Biographical/Historical NotesDr. Ernest G. Stillman (1884-1949) was a summer resident of Northeast Harbor, Maine. He graduated from Harvard University in 1908 and earned an MD from Columbia University in 1913. He practiced medicine, conducted pulmonary research, and his philanthropic work included supporting the Fisher Museum at Harvard Forest in Petersham, Mass., underwriting the Harvard Forest dioramas. Portions of his collections of Japanese art and literature are at Harvard University. Harvard University Archives holds film he shot of Harvard class of 1908 20th and 25th reunions and footage of a Harvard-Yale hockey game. The donor, John Stillman (1919-2010), was his son. See also the Harvard Forest Collection. John Stillman's son, Whit Stillman, is a filmmaker. Some of his films are at Harvard Film Archive.

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