President McKinley Inauguration Footage (1901)
Combining two brief actuality reels, this footage shows President William McKinley's carriage procession to the Capitol and his second oath of office on March 4, 1901.
President McKinley Inauguration Footage was filmed by Edison Manufacturing Company cameramen and rushed into theaters within two weeks, giving audiences an unprecedented near-live glimpse of a sitting president. It was added to the National Film Registry in 2000.
Background
This short film combines two brief actuality reels showing President William McKinley’s procession to the Capitol and the moment of his second oath of office on March 4, 1901. It was filmed by cameramen working for the Edison Manufacturing Company, one of the dominant producers of early motion pictures in the United States, and reflects the kind of brief, unstaged documentary footage of real public events that made up much of the earliest commercial film programming.
What to watch for
Watch for how quickly this kind of footage reached audiences: the film was rushed into theaters within about two weeks of the event, giving audiences of the time an unusually immediate glimpse of a sitting president that newspapers and still photography could not match. It is a useful example of how early cinema was used to record public ceremony and history as it happened, well before newsreels became a standardized part of the moviegoing experience. It was added to the National Film Registry in 2000.
