Main Street News

“Hillsdale in the 1930s – A Swinging Town!,” a 22-minute documentary of footage filmed in Hillsdale, NY, between 1936 and 1938, will premiere on Saturday, November 2, at the Hillsdale Town Hall. 

The historical value of the film 

The original film footage was shot by an unknown filmmaker, and was in the possession of Palmer Vincent, Hillsdale’s town historian at the time. Vincent preserved the film and passed it down to his grandchildren, Doug, Ron, and Sue, who enjoyed the film as children and later recognized the value of the film as an important visual record of life in Hillsdale in the 1930s. 

The Vincent family recently shared the film with Hillsdale documentarians, Julia Brandi and Marilyn Herrington, who worked with editor Elizabeth Wilder Elm to transform the silent footage into a documentary set to a foot-tapping soundtrack of swing music that was common at the time. 

“When I received the film, I knew we had a treasure. With the support of the Roe Jan Historical Society and the Rheinstrom Hill Community Foundation, we were able to put together a silent short film depicting delightful scenes of everyday life in Hillsdale in the 1930s,” said Herrington. 

Life in 1930s Hillsdale

The film provides an inside look at how life was lived nearly 90 years ago. “Automobiles and horse-drawn vehicles still coexisted, farms were plentiful, and passenger trains made regular stops at the Hillsdale station,” the film’s description states. “Scores of school buses delivered students to the new Roeliff Jansen Central School, and the frozen Milk Pond off Anthony Street provided a winter’s harvest of ice for all of Hillsdale. Despite America’s Great Depression, the close-knit community of Hillsdale flourished and the town thrived.” 

“Hillsdale in the 1930s – A Swinging Town!” was produced by Ron Vincent, Julia Brandi, and Marilyn Herrington, edited by Elizabeth Wilder Elm, and funded and supported by the Rheinstrom Hill Community Foundation and the Roeliff Jansen Historical Society. 

There will be two public screenings of “Hillsdale in the 1930s – A Swinging Town!” on Saturday, November 2 at 6pm (registration is already filled!) and Thursday, November 7 at 6pm at Roe Jan Brewing Co. 

As of November 2, the film will also be available to watch online on both the Roeliff Jansen Historical Society and Hillsdale Town websites.