{"id":2855,"date":"2011-10-24T13:05:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-24T18:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=2855"},"modified":"2011-12-02T13:01:13","modified_gmt":"2011-12-02T18:01:13","slug":"george-mason-universitys-earliest-video-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=2855","title":{"rendered":"George Mason University\u2019s Earliest Video Footage, Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
<\/dt>\n
\n
\"George<\/a>

George Mason College Bailey's Crossroads Campus, 1964. Photograph is from the Richard M. Sparks Photograph Collection.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n


\n<\/strong>This post is Part 1 of 2 parts. Part 2 can be read here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bailey’s Crossroads<\/strong>, George Mason’s First Campus<\/strong><\/p>\n

During the summer of 1957 University of Virginia President Colgate W. Darden announced the University’s temporary leasing of an old elementary school building at Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia. \u00a0This building \u00a0would house the newly created University College of the University of Virginia until a permanent location could be chosen and suitable facilities constructed. In early August of 1957 the Bailey’s Crossroads location was occupied, and classes began on September 23 with an initial enrollment of 17. With John Norville Gibson Finley as Director, Bailey\u2019s served as the home of the college, later renamed George Mason College in January 1960, until August 1964.<\/p>\n

The former Bailey\u2019s Crossroads Elementary School located at 5836 Columbia Pike was a well-used eight-room elementary school constructed in 1922 of red brick. In 1955, a new, larger elementary school was constructed nearby, and \u201cOld Bailey\u2019s\u201d was abandoned. The lower level had four classrooms – two were used as science labs, and the other two as lecture rooms by the school’s new tenant. On the upper level, three rooms comprised the library. The last served as an additional lecture room. The library was staffed by librarians from the local public library who worked there after-hours, and former occupants of Bailey\u2019s have characterized the building\u2019s climate control as \u201chot in the summer and cold in the winter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Space for other collegiate pursuits was always at a premium. Bailey\u2019s lacked a room that could house more than 30 persons comfortably.\u00a0 As a result college functions, such as assemblies, meetings, dances, and Final Day Exercises (graduation) were held at locations nearby, such as the Bailey\u2019s Crossroads Fire Department , the Alexandria Episcopal Seminary, and local hotels and churches.\u00a0 Athletic events, which were never more than a pick-up or faculty vs. student game, took place either on the dirt field adjacent to the building which doubled as overflow parking or on the fields of local schools, such as Glen Forest Elementary School, which was located one-half mile to the north.<\/p>\n

In August 1964, Mason’s new campus at Fairfax was nearing completion.\u00a0 Local mover Craig Van Lines of Oakton was hired to move furniture, scientific equipment, books, and other materials from the Bailey\u2019s Crossroads building to the new Fairfax campus on August 23-24. The building would never be occupied again and was finally demolished in 1970.<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/a>

Former Bailey's Crossroads Campus building, 1968. Photograph is from the George Mason University Photograph Collection.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Films
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2003 a 16mm film in our holdings labeled “Dedication Film – November 1964” along with\u00a0 another entitled “Moving Out of Bailey’s Crossroads” were taken to a northern Virginia vendor to be cleaned and have their contents transferred to digital files. When we received the digital recordings, we discovered that the recording from the “Dedication Film” can was not the Fairfax Campus dedication of November 12, 1964.\u00a0 It actually was a 12-minute video of\u00a0 a tour of the nearly-completed Fairfax campus given by Director of\u00a0 George Mason College, Robert H. Reid earlier in July 1964.\u00a0 This film will be detailed in Part Two of this post.\u00a0 The “Moving Out of Baileys Crossroads”\u00a0 film yielded 4 minutes of footage from the late-August packing and moving from the Bailey’s campus.\u00a0 Stills and a short segment from this film can be seen below.<\/p>\n

\"Flim<\/a>

Film canister which contained 16mm film of George Mason College, Bailey's Crossroads Campus shot in 1964. Canister is mis-labeled "Dedication Film - November, 1964." It actually contained footage from a tour of the nearly completed Fairfax campus. Photograph by the author.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nSome Still Images from the Video <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Bailey's<\/a>

Bailey's Crossroads building with moving vans, August 1964. Still image from the film.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Moving<\/a>

Packing instruments in the the chemistry lab, Bailey's, August 1964. At left is chemistry professor, Dr. Hyman Feinstein. Still image from the film.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Packing<\/a>

Packing books from the library's basement storage, August 1964. Still image from the film.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Preparing<\/a><\/strong><\/strong>

Preparing to move the "George Mason College" sign, August 1964. Still image from the film.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Craig<\/a><\/strong><\/strong>

Craig Movers van leaves Bailey's building and heads toward Va. Route 7. August 1964. Still image from the film.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Segment from the Video<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Please click here to view a 54-second segment from the video<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Part 2 of this post will deal with the content from the other film, the one incorrectly identified as “Dedication Film.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post is Part 1 of 2 parts. Part 2 can be read here. Bailey’s Crossroads, George Mason’s First Campus During the summer of 1957 University of Virginia President Colgate W. Darden announced the University’s temporary leasing of an old elementary school building at Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia. \u00a0This building \u00a0would house the newly created University […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[272,5,121,94],"tags":[261,262,273,263,211,274,275,264],"class_list":["post-2855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gmu-fairfax-campus","category-scrc-interest","category-scrc-picks","category-university-archives","tag-baileys-crossroads","tag-baileys-crossroads-elementary-school","tag-fairfax","tag-george-mason-college","tag-george-mason-university","tag-robert-h-reid","tag-robert-parcels","tag-university-of-virgnina"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Ep5i-K3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11294,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=11294","url_meta":{"origin":2855,"position":0},"title":"New Finding Aid – Richard M. Sparks GMC photograph collection","author":"Meghan Glasbrenner","date":"March 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 It's March and your SCRC processing team is back and dedicating this month's full new finding aids blog post to highlighting another photograph collection documenting the early years of Mason history! We're excited to announce that this collection is now fully processed and available for use in the Special\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "George Mason University History"","block_context":{"text":"George Mason University History","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=529"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RA19651003-002B-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RA19651003-002B-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RA19651003-002B-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RA19651003-002B-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RA19651003-002B-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RA19651003-002B-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10138,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10138","url_meta":{"origin":2855,"position":1},"title":"Before We Became George Mason University: Our First Campus at Bailey’s Crossroads, 1957-1964","author":"Bob Vay","date":"May 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This post is part of a four-part series detailing the history of George Mason University from the student perspective. 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Part 1 can be read here. \u00a0 \u00a0 Fairfax, Virginia George Mason College's New Home in 1964 Once moved from its original location in Bailey's Crossroads, George Mason College would now operate out of it's new quarters in Fairfax. The first four\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fairfax History"","block_context":{"text":"Fairfax History","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=194"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/GMUAP_1_11_Fairfax_1965_sm1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5144,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=5144","url_meta":{"origin":2855,"position":3},"title":"Mason’s Fairfax Campus turns 50!","author":"Bob Vay","date":"September 13, 2014","format":"image","excerpt":"George Mason University's Fairfax Campus turns fifty years old this Sunday.\u00a0 On September 14, 1964 George Mason College of the University of Virginia opened its doors to 356 freshman and sophomores.\u00a0 The faculty, which numbered fifteen,\u00a0comprised\u00a0seven full-time and eight part-time professors. The four original buildings were named North (now known\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fairfax History"","block_context":{"text":"Fairfax History","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=194"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/R0120B01F16.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/R0120B01F16.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/R0120B01F16.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6902,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=6902","url_meta":{"origin":2855,"position":4},"title":"George Mason University is 60 this Week!!!","author":"Bob Vay","date":"September 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"With an enrollment of nearly 34,000, and more than 200 degree programs, George Mason University is the largest public research university\u00a0in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It employs about 7,000 faculty and staff and awards about 11,000 Bachelor, Master, and PhD degrees during Spring and Winter commencements each year. Surprisingly, though,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "George Mason University History"","block_context":{"text":"George Mason University History","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=529"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/sparks_BC_lot.jpg?fit=1200%2C788&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/sparks_BC_lot.jpg?fit=1200%2C788&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/sparks_BC_lot.jpg?fit=1200%2C788&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/sparks_BC_lot.jpg?fit=1200%2C788&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/sparks_BC_lot.jpg?fit=1200%2C788&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10152,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10152","url_meta":{"origin":2855,"position":5},"title":"Establishing Our Identity: George Mason’s Fairfax Campus","author":"Bob Vay","date":"June 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This post is part of a four-part series detailing the history of George Mason University from the student perspective. Our initial post, Before We Became George Mason University: Our First Campus at Bailey's Crossroads, can be read here: https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10138 In August 1964 George Mason College moved from Bailey\u2019s Crossroads to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "exhibits"","block_context":{"text":"exhibits","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/patriot.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/patriot.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/patriot.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2855"}],"version-history":[{"count":70,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2924,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2855\/revisions\/2924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}