Now Showing: Rare Footage Of "Hillsdale in the 30s, 'A Swinging Town'"

"Hillsdale in the 1930s - A Swinging Town," a short documentary film, offering a rare historical glimpse into life in the small Columbia County town, has quickly garnered a lot of interest. The 22-minute documentary features silent footage shot between 1936 and 1938 by an unknown but talented amateur filmmaker with a remarkable eye for capturing moments of future significance. There's been so much interest that the film’s first screening, set for Saturday, November 2 at 6 p.m. at Town Hall, sold out. In response, the filmmakers have added a second screening, scheduled for November 7 at Roe Jan Brewing Co. The film will also be made available online through the Roeliff Jansen Historical Society website after the first premiere.

Marilyn Herrington, one of the film’s producers, highlighted the filmmaker’s attention to detail. 

"They captured each season, and they got the character of what the town of Hillsdale was like in the 30s,” she said, adding that the footage, which includes scenes of the ice harvest, the town’s train line, and even aerial views taken from a biplane, tells the story of a town in transition.

This rare visual record was preserved by Palmer Vincent, Hillsdale's town historian in the 1930s, and passed down to his grandchildren — Doug, Ron, and Susie Vincent — who enjoyed it for years before sharing it with the Hillsdale Historical Society. 

The film was digitized and transformed into a documentary by Hillsdale documentarians Julia Brandi and Marilyn Herrington, and editor Elizabeth Wilder Elm. This project marks the second collaboration for the trio, who previously worked together on "Portraits of Hillsdale," an oral history video series completed in 2019. Brandi praised Elm's contributions. 

“I love to do this kind of work,” said Elm, an accomplished professional documentary editor. “The stories of real people are fascinating to me. Whoever this was who shot the film definitely had a talent for it. And this was really brand new technology.”

Ron Vincent, one of Palmer Vincent’s grandchildren, was also a key part of the production team. His deep knowledge of the town and its history was crucial to ensuring the accuracy of the information that accompanies the old footage. 

"Ron’s knowledge of the area and its history was invaluable," said Elm, who used the intel to provide informative subtitles. “He was a huge influence on the film."

Set to a lively Swing Era soundtrack featuring music by the Dorsey Brothers, Bing Crosby, and Irving Berlin, "Hillsdale in the 1930s" brings to life a town at the cusp of modernity. The film captures scenes of a community where horse-drawn vehicles still shared the roads with automobiles, and passenger trains made regular stops at the town’s station. Farms were active, school buses transported students to the newly built Roeliff Jansen Central School, and the frozen Milk Pond off Anthony Street provided ice in the winter months. Despite the hardships of the Great Depression, Hillsdale remained a close-knit, and busy community.

"I like the feeling of a very united, caring, thoughtful community,” said Brandi. “People knew each other, helped each other, supported each other." 

She noted how this sense of community is on full display in scenes like the picnic at Prospect Lake, where locals gathered in their finest clothes to celebrate.

"It was a happy time," Harrington said. "Everybody trusted everybody. We don’t want our little towns to lose that. Even though there’s a huge influx coming into our small towns, we’re not afraid of change, but we also want to be a community of people that love one another."

Produced with support from the Rheinstrom Hill Community Foundation and the Roeliff Jansen Historical Society, "Hillsdale in the 1930s - A Swinging Town" portrays a unique, nostalgic look at a poignant chapter of local history.