Sponsored Films

The Power behind the Nation (1940)
Sponsor: Norfolk & Western Railway Co. Producer: Waldo E. Austin. Narrator: Bob Trout. Transfer Note: Scanned from a 16mm print held by A/V Geeks. Running Time: 16 minutes.

Overview of the bituminous coal industry sponsored by a major coal carrier. The Power behind the Nation explores coal’s geological origins and its many uses as a fuel and a source of chemical by-products. The coal production process is traced from mining to transport and ends with a scene at the coal terminal at Lambert Point, Virginia.

Note: This film includes what is said to be the first color motion picture footage shot in a coal mine.

Resources
Educational Film Catalog, comps. Dorothy E. Cook and Eva Rahbek-Smith (New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1940–41), 126.