Working in Rural New England by Ken Burns • Hampshire College Student Film

Ken Burns’s first documentary, about the lives of rural Americans after the Revolutionary War - his student thesis at Hampshire College - ignited his interest in making films about history and helped launch his career. And it came about when the College created a production company for students to learn the craft by making films for local nonprofits and community organizations. One organization that called on Hampshire Films was Old Sturbridge Village, the living museum of rural New England in the early 1800s. And the rest is 40-plus years of the most watched documentaries about American history.
“We got nonprofit companies to hire us at no wages to make documentaries at cost,” Burns recalled. “They got more or less semi-accomplished films they wouldn’t have been able to afford with commercial companies.”
His thesis film, Working in Rural New England - called a Division III project at Hampshire because students complete three divisions as undergraduates - was made to educate visitors at Old Sturbridge Village. In 2018, Burns told Variety magazine that the museum approached Hampshire Films for a movie about people’s lives from 1790 through the 1830s - “basically right up to the point when New England started to get industrialized,” he said.
The 27-minute film, completed in 1975 before Burns graduated, was also his first to be nominated for a national award: He was one of five students up for the American Society of Cinematographers award for best photographed college film of 1975. Read more about the making of Working in Rural New England and its place in Burns's filmmaking career: www.hampshire.edu/news/2019/03...

[@mainemavin]

Amazing how the sheep is so calm while the man hand shears the wool.

[@thecottage4493]

I keep forgetting I'm watching a documentary and feel like I'm seeing the real thing! Thats how good this is!

[@leoscheibelhut940]

Thank you for posting this.

[@patriciaadams4171]

Oh i forgot to mention the film itself is so charming, probably a bellwether of what would soon come from a mind affected by this little schoolhouse and the people in it.

[@tarnopol]

It was all downhill from here. Kidding! Neat upload; it's a fine film, actually.

[@indiawitt]

Love this, thank you for sharing

[@reedzkee]

kind of blowing my mind. we've passed the point of no turning back. these skills have been lost due to technology. we also lost regional culture because of the internet. what skills will we lose next ?

[@crixxxxxxxxx]

I wonder what the name of that song is the ladies are singing.

[@patriciaadams4171]

19 minutes in, I already see two errors that these reenactors are making, that could cause frightening losses if done by real 1840s folk== 1) When making cheese they were allowing the whey to drain away.... Whey has important nutrients and it was saved, poured on grain or corn creating a mush that was fed to pigs. 2) blacksmiths never worked alone, in order to be productive one always had a BOY working the bellows and shoveling the coal. Also, one always has a piece heating in the fire while pounding on the last piece going back and forth, you literally don't stop hammering. My great grandpa was a blacksmith and shop owner with farriers working under him. I studied to be a Machinist.

[@danconway9672]

Yeah.. okay... But this is a pretty historically accurate doc overall. Even living in Rural NE today lots of these traditions still apply. Although modernity has made things a lot easier I can definitely see many commonalities especially regarding organic agriculture in NE today. The folks reenacting these tasks are doing a pretty nice job demonstrating them without a lifetime of training under their belts... on top of that, frightening losses could come at a surprise in many forms during this time! Thank you Ken Burns! lol