Franklin D. Roosevelt is sworn in at the Capitol in 1933. There was no live television back then, but local residents could watch highlights of the event a week later at the Aurora Theatre. (Photograph from the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum). EA Waited a Week to Watch Inauguration of FDR in 1933

by Robert Lowell Goller Town and Village Historian Copyright 2020 Robert Lowell Goller

hanks to modern technology, people across the globe last week watched live on their T television, computer and phone screens the transfer of the presidency from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. The pageantry, musical performances and inaugural speech were all beamed instantaneously to our living rooms and offices.

However, until the first live telecast of an inauguration, that of Harry Truman in 1949, citizens had to wait to watch the ceremony. That was the case in 1933, when the presidency transferred from Herbert Hoover to Franklin D. Roosevelt. There was no live television, so citizens eagerly waited for copies of the film to arrive at cinemas across the nation, including the Auro- ra Theatre in East Aurora. Motion-picture technology had been used to record presidential inaugurations since William McKinley’s in 1897, and radio transmitted live audio of the event beginning with Calvin Coolidge’s in 1925, but this was the first time citizens could experience the sights and sounds of a presidential swearing-in so quickly after the event. In fact, the physical journey of the original film became news in and of itself. In addition to capturing the inaugural festivities, cameramen for the Univer- sal Newspaper Newsreel Service were rolling as film canisters were loaded on to a waiting airplane in Washington, D.C. The film was on its way to New York City for processing, editing and narration even before the inaugural festivities had finished. “Two-hundred fifty-thousand people are in Washington for the inauguration. But for those unable to get there, Universal Newspaper Newsreel is rushing pictures of this epic ceremony by the fastest air express plane in the coun- try,” the newsreel company noted. It was a race against time, and the logistics were well orchestrated. In New York City, a “fast car” and police escort were waiting at the airport to transport the film for processing. According to the newsreel company, the edited and narrated film was show- ing on cinema screens in large East Coast cities within 24 hours. It took a few days to get to smaller cities. The scheduled arrival of the 1933 inaugural newsreel was big news in East Aurora residents waited a week, which was considered incredibly the March 9, 1933 issue of the East speedy for 1933. Aurora Advertiser. (From the ar- Aurora Theatre owner Merritt Kyser wasted no time getting the word out. chives of the Aurora Town Histori- “By special arrangement, motion pictures of the inauguration last Saturday an’s Office). of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States, will be shown at the Aurora Theatre as part of the regular program beginning Sunday, and continuing through Wednesday,” noted Kyser’s announcement published in the March 9, 1933 issue of the East Aurora Advertiser. By 1933, newsreels had become routine at cinemas across the country, projected on screens as a preview to the feature film. But the speed and subject matter of this particular newsreel drew extra-ordinary attention. In addition to its regular weekly advertisement, the Aurora Theatre also placed a special announcement in the newspaper to promote the inaugural film. Hearst Metrotone News, which produced the Universal newsreel, quickly used the opportunity to promote its word-wide news-gathering service. “Hearst Metrotone News cameramen are there, everywhere, when news happens!” the company bragged in an advertise- ment published in the Buffalo Courier-Express on March 19, 1933. “Thrilling pictures of the inauguration of President Roosevelt and his great speech were seen and heard in theatres 1,500 miles distant scarcely more than 24 hours after hap- pening—and in other cities as fast as speed planes could carry them.” Although captured by motion picture and sound cameras, the famous line in President Roosevelt’s inaugural address— “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”—was omitted from the original seven-minute newsreel, which can be viewed 88 years later on several websites, including that of C-Span. The Aurora Theatre was not the only small-town cinema to show it. The Hearst Metrotone advertisement listed 21 thea- tres in the City of Buffalo, including the Shea’s chain, and nearly two dozen in small towns throughout Western New York. However, the newsreel wasn’t East Aurora’s only source for details of the inauguration. Wayne H. Wright, the local Democratic Committee chairman, traveled to Washington as part of a delegation from Erie County. And the Advertiser devoted several columns of its March 9 issue to the first-hand account of high school sophomore Paul DiGangi, who said he witnessed “one of the greatest days Washington has ever seen.” In addition to its regular weekly advertisement, the Aurora Theatre also placed a special advertisement in the March 9, 1933 issue of the East Aurora Advertiser to promote the inaugural newsreel. (From the ar- chives of the Aurora Town Historian’s Office).

There was no follow-up report in the Advertiser to indicate how many people went to the Aurora Theatre to watch the inaugural newsreel, but it’s safe to say that ticket sales likely were higher than normal. Few people would have missed the chance to see (and hear) the inauguration of the president. “The (moving) pictures will indicate something of the great enthusiasm during the day,” the Advertiser noted in its pre- view of the historic event.

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Robert Lowell Goller is the eighth Aurora town and East Aurora village historian since the office was created in 1919. The Historian’s Office is open for research Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1-4 p.m., and by appointment. Vis- it www.townofaurora.com/departments/historian for more information. The Office of the Historian can also be found on Facebook at “Aurora Town Historian” and on Instagram at “auroratownhistorian.”