Capitol Building and Lincoln Memorial (2 Lincoln Memorial Cir NW, Washington, DC 20002) at Washington D.C. U.S. Military Academy cadets marching at West Point. Scene then blends to close up view of U.S. Army troops marching, wearing helmets and shouldering rifles with fixed bayonets, in World War I. Scene then blends again to U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen marching at Annapolis. Visitors walking the grounds of Mount Vernon. Statue of George Washington at 1939 New York World’s Fair. Re-enactment of the Crossing of the Delaware. Lincoln's Statue at the Lincoln Memorial. An actor portrays Abraham Lincoln in a theatrical film. A view of a New York City victory parade for American soldiers returning World War I in February 1919.
A beer drinking offer for Schepps Beer at the Texan Hotel in Dallas, Texas, 1935. Sign out front of the building says "Look! All the Schepps beer you can drink. 60 cents per hour." . A man drinks beer at the bar where for 60 cents he may have as much beer as he can consume in 60 minutes. Several men use straws to drink beer from a pitcher at the same time. Men and women drink beer from huge mugs and salt their beer before drinking it. A group of men and women raise their mugs in toast as they congregate around a woman playing a piano. From a 25 year retrospective in a newsreel dated July 14, 1960. (Note: Schepps Brewing Co. was founded in Dallas in 1934, and sold in 1935. In 1939, it became Time Brewing, Inc. and subsequently Dallas-Fort Worth Brewing Co. 1940-51.)
Disturbances and conflicting views about war versus isolationist approach in the United States prior to World War II. Officials speak about lend lease and officials with anti-war involvement stance advocate protectionism. Speakers include Senator Gerald P. Nye. and Senator Burton K. Wheeler. Wendell Willkie speak advocating a unified approach. Senator Joshua B. Lee of Oklahoma speaks. United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the Congress and delivers his war message. Pacifist student protestors on street in front of the White House with anti-war banners that read 'Peace Mobilization'. Counter demonstrators also picket, including a man with a sign, "We Americans Protest Communists Picketing the White House." Vehicles drive past in front of the White House. A group of women anti-war protestors are seen seated at an event, and together they pull down black veils in front of their faces. German Bund officials (German-American Bund) are seen meeting at an outdoor rally, and then again at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1939. A band plays and the leader Fritz Julius Kuhn gives a brief speech during which a protestor leaps the stage and is beaten down by Bund members. Workers on streets protesting for various labor rights. They march and picket on a street. Demonstrators for other causes in American society in the early 1940s, including a woman demonstrator who carries a sign advocating civil rights or equal rights that says "Did Lincoln Free the Slaves?" Clip ends with scenes of violence at various labor strikes, including scabs (strike-breakers) being attacked, beaten, and hit by strikers, and authorities directing water hoses on strikers to repel them away from a building gate.
Several Mississippi river steamers are seen. The U.S. Greenbrier, a stern paddlewheeler river steamer in the Lighthouse Service is seen. (It was later transferred to the Coast Guard, in 1939, and designated a Coast Guard Cutter -- SAGL-214). President Herbert Hoover and his wife, Lou Henry Hoover, are seen on deck, with members of their party. Spectators line the upper bank of the wharf. Many hold umbrellas due to rain. An American flag flies over the wharf. The Greenbrier backs away from the wharf in clouds of smoke and steam. The Grand Avenue suspension bridge can be seen in background. The President and Mrs. Hoover smile from the deck.
The end of the Winter War in Finland. Finnish representative Juho Kusti Paasikivi leaves for Moscow for a first round of negotiations on October 9, 1939. Finnish Prime Minister A. K. Cajander, speaker of Parliament Väinö Hakkila and Mrs. Alli Paasikivi see off J.K. Paaskivi on the train station. Finnish delegation and Soviet Union officials negotiate in Moscow. A man hits a gavel on his desk. Map of Scandinavia and the Western part of the Soviet Union. A bus on fire in the middle of a street, a building is on fire nearby. A woman running away from the chaos. More burning buildings. A doctor treats an injured woman in a hospital. Artillery fires in the middle of a forest in Finland. Two soldiers in white coats walk carefully in the snow. Soldiers in white coats (camouflage for winter) walk on skis and assume prone position to fire at enemy positions. Captured Soviet soldiers are made to march by Finnish troops. A row of damaged tanks in the snow. A dead soldier in the snow. Troops leave behind damaged artillery and equipment covered in snow. A photograph of Joseph Stalin among damaged equipment. Another deceased soldier lying in the snow. Finnish civilians keep warm around a bonfire in the forest. Finnish woman gives a cup to her son. Children drinking from a cup.
People gather to celebrate an event organized for the youth of Russia in August 1939. Soviet Premier Stalin reviews children parading, dancing and doing calisthenics. Boys march with flags. Buildings along the sides of a street. Boys and girls perform on a stage in front of a large crowd. Children march. Boys perform on the ground amidst the crowd. Girls and boys on decorated floats pass through the street. Buildings in the background. Several performances by the young boys and girls in colorful dresses. A crowd gathers in front of decorated buildings. Pictures of dignitaries on the wall of a building. Girls march with flags.