1950s Mental Health Services in HD

by Sandra Yates, Head of McGovern Historical Center

The holidays came early to the archives! We sent the 16mm film, “Help Wanted” (1958), to the Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI) for a fresh new high-definition scan. The film returned safely from Austin with a hard drive containing a 18 GB video file. TAMI is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving Texas’ film heritage, offering digitization services, an online library of over 5,000 searchable videos, and educational resources.

We recently posted about the film, which was created in 1958 by the Junior League of Houston to give an overview of the various mental health facilities and services in Houston. You can learn more about the collection on our collection site, Films on Mental Health provided by Bill Schnapp. The collection and film digitization were made possible through the generous support of Dr. Bill Schnapp.

You can stream the film below or via our collection site.

–

To illustrate the drastic improvement in image quality, behold the amazing city streets of Houston!

Before

After

Before

After

Did you spot the Jesse H. Jones Library Building just before the 11 minute mark? I almost fell out of my chair getting a closer look!

Feature Image (top): Mental Health Association of Houston and Harris County (HD). [Screenshot from “Help Wanted” (1958), AVF.MS238.001, MS 238 Films on Mental Health provided by Bill Schnapp, McGovern Historical Center, Texas Medical Center Library]