President William McKinley Films From 1901

President William McKinley Films from 1901

36 minutes and 30 seconds of film, covering William McKinley, 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901.

Includes a description of each separate film along with its description from a film catalog published by Edison Studios.

The Actualities (Motion pictures) show activity from his 1901 inauguration to his assassination and funeral. The films were produced and distributed by Thomas A. Edison’s Edison Studios.

The 19 film segments include: McKinley's inauguration. McKinley taking the oath of office. President McKinley's last public speech which was made at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. A film shot immediately after the shooting of McKinley, showing a crowd in front of the Temple of Music, attempting to get at the assassin. McKinley's funeral train arriving at Canton Station. The funeral of President McKinley. A recreation of the execution of Czolgosz.

Actualities use straightforward footage of real events, places, and things as its entire composition. unlike documentaries which are structured into a larger arrangement. In practice, actuality films preceded the emergence of the documentary. During the era of early cinema, actualities, usually lasted no more than a minute or two and usually assembled into a program by an exhibitor.

Republican William McKinley of Ohio was elected president in 1896 and re-elected in 1900. He was preceded by Democrat Grover Cleveland and would be followed by Theodore Roosevelt, who was vice-president when McKinley was assassinated in 1901, and later elected president in 1904.

McKinley was the last of five Civil War veterans to serve in the White House, signaling the end of the post-war era. He was also the fifth of the six Ohio presidents to serve during the fifty-year period 1868-1908. The ascendancy of Ohio and the Midwest in national politics demonstrated that the United States was no longer a nation essentially oriented to the Atlantic seaboard.

The 1901 Pan-American Exposition was opened in the spring of 1901 by Vice-President, Theodore Roosevelt. President McKinley had been scheduled to do the honors but had to cancel because of his wife's illness. It was not until September that the McKinleys were able to inspect the exposition grounds.

On September 6th, President McKinley attended a reception in the Temple of Music Building. The President had been standing in a receiving line, greeting the public for seven minutes when an anarchist from Cleveland named Leon Czolgosz shot McKinley twice at point blank range in the chest and abdomen.


This collection also includes a copy of the book The Last Speech of William McKinley, President of the United States: Delivered at the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York, on the fifth of September, 1901. Canton, Pa.: Printed by the Kirgate Press of Lewis Buddy, 3rd. with a prefatory note by Henry B.F. Macfarland

 

Highlights from the collection include:

Execution of Czolgosz, With Panorama of Auburn Prison (1901)

The film is a dramatic reenactment of the execution of Leon Czolgosz in the electric chair at Auburn Correctional Facility following his 1901 conviction for the assassination of William McKinley. It is considered an important film in the history of cinema.

The film’s producer Edwin S. Porter sought permission to film the actual execution of Czolgosz but was denied. Porter instead filmed outside the Auburn prison on the day of the execution, October 29, 1901. Then he recreated the execution on a set in New York City.

A 1903 Edison film company catalog entry for this 1901 film reads: 

“A detailed reproduction of the execution of the assassin of President McKinley faithfully carried out from the description of an eyewitness. The picture is in three scenes. First: Panoramic view of Auburn Prison taken the morning of the electrocution. The picture then dissolves into the corridor of murderer's row. The keepers are seen taking Czolgosz from his cell to the death chamber, and shows State Electrician, Wardens and Doctors making final test of the chair. Czolgosz is then brought in by the guard and is quickly strapped into the chair. The current is turned on at a signal from the Warden, and the assassin heaves heavily as though the straps would break. He drops prone after the current is turned off. The doctors examine the body and report to the Warden that he is dead, and he in turn officially announces the death to the witness. “

The cost to buy a copy of this film in 1903 was $24.00

 
The Mob Outside the Temple of Music at the Pan-American Exposition (1901)

When President McKinley went to the Pan-American Exposition early in September 1901, Edison Studio’s cameraman James White and an Edison camera crew had a photographic concession.

On September 5th they took a simple one-shot film of McKinley delivering a speech (included in this collection) that praised American business, competition, and tariffs. The next day, while holding a reception in the Temple of Music, the president was shot by Leon Czolgosz, a Cleveland anarchist. The Edison crew, who were waiting outside, took a "circular panorama" of the anxious crowd soon after the assassination was announced.

A contemporary Edison Studios film catalog entry reads: 

“On Friday, September 6th, 1901, we had our cameras in position to photograph the President as he left the Temple of Music, but the deplorable assassination, of course, prevented our getting this picture. We did, however, secure an excellent panoramic view of the mob surging in front of the Temple of Music attempting to get at the assassin. These pictures have created intense excitement and interest. Our cameras were the only ones at work at the Pan-American Exposition on the day of President McKinley's speech, Thursday, September 5th, and on Friday, September 6th, the day of the shooting. This picture was photographed immediately after the shooting and shows the intense excitement of the people. The Pan-American Exposition guards are plainly seen in the background trying to check the frantic multitude as they sway backward and forward in their mad endeavor to reach the assassin.”