Rod Nordberg Collection
Inclusive Dates
1926 – 1985
Bulk Dates
1966 – 1979
Preservation Sponsor
Abstract
The Rod Nordberg Collection contains 16mm film prints and videotapes of documentary series and educational programs produced by Chicago’s public television station WTTW 11 and Rod Nordberg’s company Hollywood East in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. These include The Architecture of Chicago (1968-9), Metro!!! The School Without Walls (1970), Until I Die (1970) Earthkeeping (1972-3), and Making M*A*S*H (1981). The collection also features 16mm prints of student films from Columbia College, the Chicago Public High School for Metropolitan Studies (Metro), and University of Illinois at Chicago Circle (UICC), as well as 16mm Chicago home movies from the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s collected by Nordberg.
Collection Items
To request more information about the items in this collection, please contact the archive at
info@chicagofilmarchives.org.
Items with Viewable Media
- Alexander Calder
- Angiography
- Architecture in Chicago The Grand Design
- The Architecture of Chicago
- The Architecture of Chicago Frank Lloyd Wright
- The Architecture of Chicago Mies Van der Rohe
- The Architecture of Chicago The Tall Building
- Architecture: Prog. 3
- As We See It II
- As We See It II
- As We See It II
- Baby's First Year: Pediatrics The Phenomena of Early Development
- Chicago Festival - Art Collections
- Chicago Festival Art Scene
- Chicago Festival Art Scene (Mag. Edgetrack)
- Chicago Festival Culture
- Chicago Festival Culture (Master Mix)
- China: Hundred School to One ("Intrepid")
- Circle Architecture
- Circle Campus: Box 4348 ZIP 60680
- Coffee Shop
- Columbia Animation
- Columbia College Tech II Gunsmoke Editing Exercise
- Contemporary Art Review
- Creative Person: Gwendolyn Brooks
- Drawing of Film Columbia College Tech I 73-74
- Drawing on Film
- Drawing on Film Tech I
- Earthkeeping City Life
- Earthkeeping Garbage
- Earthkeeping Greenbacks
- Earthkeeping Help Yourself
- Earthkeeping Little Big Land
- Earthkeeping Megapolis
- Earthkeeping Sodbusters
- Erase and Reuse UC30
- Erasure & Reuse KCA 30
- FT-29 Master
- Glass Slides (Paper or Photographic Materials)
- Godfrey Cambridge
- Great Ideas of Western Man
- Haiku Mas Shinsako
- Hide and Seek
- Hiroshima Newsreel + Lecture
- The History of Circle Campus
- Home Movies: 1935 & 1940
- Homes Movies: Japan
- J.E. Hunter Home Movies 1926 - Chicago Hyde Park
- Jane Kennedy To Be Free
- Japan: The Changing Tradition: Democracy With A Difference
- Japan: The Changing Tradition: Of the People
- Joel Hall Dancers
- Journey to the Moon
- King Tut Arrives in U.S.
- Kraftstoff
- Let's Meet a Clown
- Lighting Comparison 1/2 (Color)
- Lighting Comparison 2/2 (B/W)
- Lighting: Fluorescent Strobe
- Look At Me
- Look At Me Program 2
- Look At Me Program 4
- Making M*A*S*H Part 1 of 2
- Making of M*A*S*H Part 2 of 2
- Man and His Art: "And There Was Light"
- Man and His Art: Non-Western Art
- Man And His Art Program 4
- Man and His Art: Reflections of Reality (Nudes, Landscapes, Still Lifes)
- Man and His Art: Style: The Man and His Work
- Man and His Art: The Painter's Eye
- Man and His Art: The Shape of Our Vision
- Martin Luther King, Jr. "I Have a Dream"
- Metro!!! Art Institute Chase 1/2
- Metro!!! Art Institute Chase 2/2
- Metro!!! Ground Water
- Metro Student Animation 16mm Edgetrack
- Metro Student Animation Original Film
- Metro!!! The School Without Walls
- Metro!!! The School Without Walls
- Metro!!! The School Without Walls
- Metro!!! The School Without Walls
- Metro!!! The School Without Walls
- Metro!!! The School Without Walls
- Metro!!! The School Without Walls
- Metro!!! The School Without Walls
- Metro!!! The School Without Walls
- Metro!!! The School Without Walls
- Metro!!! The School Without Walls 2
- Metro!!! The School Without Walls 6
- Metro!!! The School Without Walls 9
- Metro!!! The School Without Walls 11
- Metro!!! The School Without Walls 14
- Monet
- Monty Python Promo 1
- Monty Python Promo 2
- Monty Python Promo 3
- NET Logo
- Nursing and the Law: Defamation
- Nursing in Psychiatry
- Nursing in Psychiatry Master Mag
- Our Precious Master
- Papers from Rod Nordberg (Paper or Photographic Materials)
- Persian Music
- Potash: The New World of K
- Rainbow Heritage 1
- Rainbow Heritage 2
- Red Grooms Exhibit Chicago 1968
- Renoir
- Romeo and Juliet 1/2
- Romeo and Juliet 2/2
- Sesame Street
- Shirley Clarke Video Workshop April 30, 1974
- Smooth Equal
- SMPTE Flutter Test
- Soundstage Barry Manilow
- Soundstage / Barry Manilow
- Steve Hale: Diffraction Original
- Steve Hale: Diffraction Workprint
- Student Films Circle Campus
- To Save Tomorrow-Fountain House
- Tony Recio
- Toussaint Louverture: The Paintings of Jacob Lawrence
- Unedited WP-Metro!!!
- Until I Die
- Until I Die
- Untitled
- Untitled
- Untitled
- Untitled
- Untitled
- Wisconsin Dells by Duval
- WTTW: To Save Tomorrow: Come Out, Come Out, Whoever You Are (1/2)
- WTTW: To Save Tomorrow: Come Out, Come Out, Whoever You Are (2/2)
Collection Identifier
C.2015-02
Extent of Collection
103 reels of 16mm totaling approximately 82,068 feet; 23 3/4" U-matic videotapes; 1 1/2" videotape; 3 boxes of lantern slides; 15 envelopes and folders containing print material
Language Of Materials
English
Subject
Custodial History
Rod Nordberg donated the initial prints and elements of METRO!!! in March 2015 for CFA's preservation of that title. Nordberg then donated the additional films and materials in March 2017. All materials were previously stored in Nordberg's home in Minnesota.
Related Materials
Other copies of the Earthkeeping series are part of the DeWitt Beall Collection.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open to on-site access. Appointments must be made with Chicago Film Archives. Due to the fragile nature of the films, only video copies will be provided for on-site viewing.
Creators
Nordberg, Rod
(was created by)
Born on May 26, 1940 in Minneapolis, Rod Nordberg (1940- ) is the editor and producer of numerous television documentaries and educational films, including local Emmy winner The Architecture of Chicago (1968-9), Earthkeeping (1972-3), and national Emmy finalist Making M*A*S*H (1981). In 1970, Nordberg directed Metro!!! The School Without Walls, a short documentary about the experimental Chicago Public High School for Metropolitan Studies (known as Metro).
Nordberg holds degrees from Pacific Lutheran University, University of Minnesota, and Harvard Business School. Upon graduating from University of Minnesota, he became a supervising film editor at Empire Photosound in Minneapolis, where he remained until 1967. From 1968 through 1980, he was the supervisor of film postproduction for Chicago’s public television station WTTW 11. In the 1970s, he also taught film production at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle (later consolidated into University of Illinois at Chicago) and at Columbia College in Chicago. He later moved to Los Angeles and started his own film and video production company, Hollywood East. In the 1980s and 1990s, he began teaching film and TV production again at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Nordberg now lives in Park Rapids, MN.
Nordberg holds degrees from Pacific Lutheran University, University of Minnesota, and Harvard Business School. Upon graduating from University of Minnesota, he became a supervising film editor at Empire Photosound in Minneapolis, where he remained until 1967. From 1968 through 1980, he was the supervisor of film postproduction for Chicago’s public television station WTTW 11. In the 1970s, he also taught film production at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle (later consolidated into University of Illinois at Chicago) and at Columbia College in Chicago. He later moved to Los Angeles and started his own film and video production company, Hollywood East. In the 1980s and 1990s, he began teaching film and TV production again at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Nordberg now lives in Park Rapids, MN.