Born in Caroleen, North Carolina in 1902, studio photographer Herbert Lee Waters supplemented his income from 1936 to 1942 by traveling across North Carolina and parts of Virginia, Tennessee, and South Carolina to film the people of small communities. He collaborated with local movie theaters to screen his films, which he called . As a filmmaker, Waters produced 252 films across 118 communities. Movies of Local People The H. Lee Waters Film Collection dates from 1936 to 2005 and primarily comprises 16 mm black and white reversal original motion picture films created by Waters during the filming of the series. The collection, arranged alphabetically by town name, also includes various preservation elements created from the original footage: 16 mm internegatives; 16 mm screening prints; 3/4 inch Umatic, Betacam SP, and Digital Betacam preservation tape masters; and VHS and DVD use copies of Waters' works. The collection contains a small number of papers and physical objects related to Waters' film making, including: a photocopy of two log books (encompassed in one volume) maintained by Waters to record financial and business information during the filming of ; photocopied and original advertisements for screenings of Waters' films; photocopies of Waters' notes, receipts, and correspondence concerning film sales; related ephemera; and a copy of a 2005 master's thesis written on the films of H. Lee Waters. Movies of Local People Movies of Local People
