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As the world prepares for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” to come out on December 18th, we in the Digital Newspaper Unit are hopping into our newspaper time machine to check into the first Star Wars movie reviews and news. The movie was initially distributed in limited release in May 1977. As the article appearing in the Rio Grande Herald, titled, “‘Star Wars’ Raking in Millions” summarizes, Star Wars first opened to 45 theaters, and in 12 days brought in $5.2 million in sales, sweeping the world and almost doubling Fox Studio’s stock at the time of the movie’s release.
From UNT’s own NT Daily, we have a terrific review that includes the sketch in this blog post, on the left. 
According to the review, “‘Star Wars’ features the most cosmic special effects in memory.” Unrelated but also interesting: on the same page of the review is a photo, “Dueling Banjo?” which displays a young David Iles with a terrific ’70s hairdo, wielding what appears to be a shovel-shaped sword. (David Iles also happens to be the sculptor of the wildlife statues outside the Environmental Education, Science, and Technology Building on the UNT Denton Campus.)
Of course, “Star Wars” came out before most of its top-billed cast were famous–except for Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing, and newspapers made certain to help movie-goers answer questions like, who was that tough guy from American Graffiti?
The Rice Thresher, out of Rice University, gives us an admiring and thoughtful review that especially praises the richness of the special effects. This review also notes newcomers Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford.
As we move toward the end of the year in our time machine, it appears that “Star Wars” gifts were at the top of most children’s wish lists by the end of 1977, from Bellaire, to Cedar Hill, to Crosbyton.
Not everyone was sad to change out movies at the theater. According to the September 16, 1977, NT Daily article, the Campus Theater projectionists were happy to see something new arrive after playing “Star Wars” for a total of 10 weeks–and after watching it over and over again. And if you’re curious about “so-called science fiction fizzlers” that “raked a coat-tail profit in the wake of ‘Star Wars,'” you need look no further than the November 17, 1977, issue of the Fort Hood Sentinel. From this, you’ll get reviews of such stunning classics as “Starship Invasions” and “The Fantastic Invasion of the Planet Earth.” (Before adding this paragraph, I checked the “Mystery Science Theater 3000” episode list to make sure neither of these movies had become an MST3k episode.)
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On October 7th, Chronicling America, the website through which the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) content is hosted, reached a huge milestone in its history. “The site now features more than 10 million pages – 74 terabytes of total data – from more than 1,900 newspapers in 38 states and territories and the District of Columbia,” according to the 10-millionth page press release. Through the generous support of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which is celebrating its 50 year anniversary as an independent federal agency, Chronicling America serves as a free and open hub for newspaper preservation for participating institutions.
The University of North Texas Libraries, in partnership with the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, has added 300,000 pages of Texas newspaper content to Chronicling America, and UNT Libraries and the Texas Digital Newspaper Program are proud to have participated. UNT Libraries also previously partnered with the Oklahoma Historical Society to complete 300,000 pages of Oklahoma newspapers for Chronicling America, and is currently partnering with University of New Mexico Libraries to add 300,000 pages of New Mexico newspapers.
Launched by the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2007, Chronicling America provides enhanced and permanent access to historically significant newspapers published in the United States between 1836 and 1922. It is part of the NDNP, a joint effort between the two agencies and partners in 40 states and territories.
The NDNP awards grants to entities in each state and territory to identify and digitize historic newspaper content. Awardees receive NEH funding to select and digitize 100,000 pages of historic newspapers published in their states between 1836 and 1922. Uniform technical specifications are provided to ensure consistency of all content, and digital files are transferred to the Library of Congress for long-term management and access. The first awards were made in 2005. Since then, NEH has awarded more than $30 million in support of the project.
If you’re interested in learning more about the National Endowment for the Humanities, NDNP, or the Library of Congress, visit their social media pages:
- LC Social Media
- Twitter: @librarycongress
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/libraryofcongress
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- NEH Social Media
- Twitter: @NEHgov
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/National-Endowment-for-the-Humanities-131252093552454/
- What People Are Saying About Chronicling America
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