KU News Release

Spencer Research Library receives grant to restore films produced in Lawrence

LAWRENCE — The Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas has received an $11,000 grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation. KU Libraries, the first institution in Kansas to receive such a grant, will use the funding to preserve three Centron films held in its Kansas Collection.

The Centron Corp., a production company founded in Lawrence by two KU alumni in 1947, produced hundreds of educational films spanning nearly five decades. The Kansas Collection acquired the company’s film archive when it closed in the early 1990s.

The grant will fund the restoration through a lab in Los Angeles, which will produce a film negative, access copy and a DVD of all three films.

One of the most well-known of Centron’s films is one of the three being restored. “Leo Beuremann,” a 13-minute documentary, detailed the life of a severely disabled man who supported himself by selling pencils and watches from a wagon in downtown Lawrence. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject in 1971.

The two other films are “Discussion Problems in Group Living: What about Prejudice?,” an educational film used in public schools, and “To the Stars,” a 1950 promotional film for KU.

Sheryl Williams, curator of the Kansas Collection and interim head of the Spencer Research Library, said she hopes the grant will open the door to more restorations in the future.

“Of course, we have hundreds of films in this collection that warrant preservation, but our hope is to successfully complete this grant and then apply for more funding later,” Williams said. “Our goal is to ensure access to this incredible resource for generations to come.”

The Kansas Collection is the regional history division of the KU Libraries. The collection provides researchers with primary source materials that document the history of Kansas, the region and the people who have lived there.

-30-

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.