Bob Word, Jr. of Scottsboro, AL provided an aging copy of this 16mm film to Annette Bradford of the Jackson County Historical Association. After cleaning and treatment of the deteriorating film I digitized frame-by-frame. This is known as a 'Civic Film' by Dixie Productions, Florence, Alabama.
A cursory internet search found no Arab, AL historical groups with a current or updated on-line presence. There is one Facebook group (without options to post or join). I emailed that group, Marshall County, Alabama Archives - but unfortunately received no reply.
Update: Several people have come forward to share with various groups in the Arab area.
Pronounced: ey-rab
Joseph Thompson brought his family to Marshall County in 1836, when they settled in Thompson Falls in 1840. Joseph’s son, Stephen Tuttle Thompson, in 1857 was the first settler to build a house on land that became Arab. He established the local Post Office in 1882 and submitted the name of his thirteen-year-old son Arad for the name of the town. Due to the misreading of the “d” for a “b”, the town became Arab instead.
Prior to the advent of the home movie camera and the ubiquitousness of the camera phone, there was the local film. This cultural phenomenon, produced across the country from the 1890s to the 1950s, gave ordinary people a chance to be on the silver screen without leaving their hometowns. Through these movies, residents could see themselves in the same theaters where they saw major Hollywood motion pictures. Traveling filmmakers plied their trade in small towns and cities, where these films were received by locals as being part of the larger cinema experience.
Frame-by-frame film digitization.
