Richard E. Norman’s grandson David Norman
By Barbara Wingo
The year 2023 marked the opening of Phase 1 of the Norman Studios Silent Film Museum in the newly renovated first floor of the Norman Studios production building. Our opening exhibition Regeneration: 1923-2023 simultaneously celebrated the regeneration of Norman Studios represented by our new museum space and the 100th anniversary of Richard Normans motion picture Regeneration.
Beginning our opening events for Phase 1 of the Norman Studios Silent Film Museum, a sneak preview for museum members was followed by a sneak preview for the public, featuring Richard Norman’s early home talent motion picture Sleepy Sam the Sleuth – shown for the first time in over 100 years. On August 18 the Mayor of the City of Jacksonville Donna Deegan held a press conference at the Studios to announce the opening, which was held the following day. The Grand Opening featured an introduction by Jacqueline Stewart, President of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Museum, as well as remarks by Norman family members and local dignitaries.
The opening events featured the display of numerous materials that had not been previously displayed at Norman Studios, including Norman Studios posters, posters from the years in which Jacksonville was the Winter Film Capital of the World, original furnishings belonging to Richard Norman, and the special exhibition Regeneration: 1023-2023 featuring original artifacts and materials from Norman’s film Regeneration.
In 2023 regular Norman Studios Silent Film Museum open hours were instituted for the first time. These hours are: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., on the first and third Saturdays of the month. Tours for organized groups are also available.
Norman Studios in 2023 continued its tradition of outreach and education in addition to the opening of the new museum space. Examples of these outreach events were an event at the Hollywood Heritage Museum in Hollywood, California, with a presentation of The Flying Ace, and presentations at the Florida Chautauqua in DeFuniak Springs. Other presentations occurred in conjunction with the Cummer Museum in Jacksonville, Film Tampa Bay in Tampa, and OLLI at Florida State University in Tallahassee. Norman Studios participated locally in Celebrate Arlington and Arlington Mod & More Home Tours. Group tours of the facility were given throughout the year.
Three new episodes of our virtual series produced in conjunction with Niles-Essanay Silent Film Museum, “Early Filmmaking in Jacksonville,” were completed and posted on our website in 2023.
Anything more to add to the annals of 2023 for Norman Studios? Yes. Last but absolutely not least, the City of Jacksonville purchased the other half of the original Studios property, including the set building. The entire Norman Studios property is now reunited! Look for the opening of the set building, now renamed the Rita F. Reagan Building, this fall.
Please enjoy the video presentation by Jacqueline Stewart from our Grand Opening. She vividly expresses why Norman Studios is so significant. And don’t wait for the fall to visit the museum and the exhibition Regeneration: 1923-2023 in the renovated Norman Studios Silent Film Museum. We hope to see you soon.
Wow! I only, by chance, learned the story of Norman Studios as I watched an episode of “Abandoned Engineering: America” on the Discovety Channel (S3, Ep7). I am somewhat embarrassed to have never known about the astounding role that Jacksonville played in the history of American movie-making. I am also amazed to learn of the creativity, tenacity, achievements and forward-thinking of Richard Norman.
Yet, all of that pales in comparison to what Norman contributed to the African American community by producing films made by African American casts and crews. In those films, the characters portrayed African Americans realistically, with the dignity and esteem they deserved, decades before the studios of Hollywood would find the courage, humanity and good conscience to do. In this way, Norman must surely have touched the lives of many thousands of African Americans, giving them reason to believe in the “promise” of equality and the courage to advance the slow (but, as yet, fully realized) march to universal human rights.
Thanks very much for your efforts to preserve the physical presence of Norman Studios and the spirit of his amazing achievements.
Wow! So glad you and the team a preserving the legacy of black silent films! Thank you and God bless! August 2024