SERIES 13: VIDEO TAPES Boxes 116 - 134
Browse the Video Tapes collection
The Video Tapes Series consists of 432 video tapes containing footage dating from 1957 to 2005, though most tapes date from the 1980s and 1990s. Arranged into the six sub-series of senate, post-senate, military, Annie Glenn, family, and NASA, the video tapes present a substantial amount of visual documentation on most aspects of John Glenn's various careers. The majority of the video tapes are in VHS format, though the series also contains some ¾ inch and Beta formatted recordings. The tapes in each sub-series are sorted first by format, and then arranged into chronological order within each format. The box and folder inventory contains a listing on the item level of all tapes located within the series.
The video tapes in the senate sub-series date from 1976 to 1998 and generally consist of Glenn's speeches, floor statements, committee hearings, media interviews, news conferences, and public service announcements. Included are some documentaries and news programs on public policy issues of special legislative interest to Glenn. Numerous tapes pertain to the investigation of Charles Keating and the Lincoln Savings and Loan failure, including a full set of tapes of the "Keating Five" hearings held by the Senate Ethics Committee from November 1990 to January 1991. Also included within the senate sub-series are tapes dating from Glenn's 1980, 1986, and 1992 senate re-election campaigns and from his campaign in the 1984 presidential election. These campaign tapes consist chiefly of interviews, news conferences, and campaign commercials from both Glenn and his various opponents. Many of the tapes within the senate sub-series dating from 1998 and most of the tapes within the post-senate sub-series contain recordings of award ceremonies and tributes to Glenn given by various organizations and individuals. The post-senate sub-series also includes tapes pertaining to Glenn's involvement in the various celebrations during 2003 marking the 100th anniversary of manned flight.
The military, Annie Glenn, and family sub-series are limited in scope. The sole military related video tape contains footage of Glenn's appearance in 1957 on the "Name That Tune" television program following his Project Bullet record breaking transcontinental flight. The Annie Glenn sub-series contains interviews of Mrs. Glenn dating from 1984 and 1986, and tributes to her given in 1998 by the Columbus Speech and Hearing Center and in 1999 by the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges. The family sub-series contains footage from Senator Glenn's 65th birthday party, two interviews of Lyn Glenn dating 1997 and 1998, and an interview of the Glenn family dating from 1998.
Most of the tapes within the NASA sub-series pertain to Glenn's 1998 return to space as a crew member aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery Mission STS-95. These tapes include official NASA footage used in the astronauts' training for the mission and NASA footage highlighting the shuttle crew's daily activities during the space flight. The sub-series also contains a few interviews of Glenn and other crewmembers. Other tapes provide footage of the various parades held following the space flight. Also included within the sub-series is an assortment of commercially produced documentaries and news programs about Glenn's return to space.
Tapes in the NASA sub-series dating prior to 1998 include footage of Glenn's space flight aboard the Friendship 7 spacecraft in February 1962. Other tapes pertain to anniversaries of the Friendship 7 space flight and to the history of NASA's space program in general. Also included is footage of Glenn's interview following the Space Shuttle Challenger accident in January 1986, along with footage of various programs produced and ceremonies held in tribute to the Challenger astronauts.