Mount Vernon 1944: An All-American Community WWII-era Propaganda Films

Once upon a time, Mount Vernon, Ohio was an “All-American Town”.
The U.S. State Department designated it as one, so it must have been true.
They even made a series of films about the city to show residents of other nations what a “typical” American town was like.
No professional actors were employed. Mount Vernon’s residents appeared as themselves…often in their own homes, shops, parks, and workplaces. They premiered here in Mount Vernon at the Knox Memorial Theater in 1946…and now those films have been newly transferred to high-resolution digital format—some for the first time ever—and we are presenting them in the same venue in which they first appeared 80 years ago.
So join us as we learn about, watch, and discuss some good, old-fashioned, patriotic propaganda films. Don’t miss this opportunity to glimpse Mount Vernon as it once was—or at least how it aspired to be.