Research

Administrative History

The motion picture collection appears to be the work of a Thruway Authority Motion Picture Unit or Photographic Bureau within the Department of Public Information. The Department created its earliest films for television promotion of the 1951 constitutional amendment that allowed the state to guarantee the Thruway Authority's bonds and thus complete the Thruway. The Department also produced new films in the mid-1950s to provide status reports on construction and to increase the use of the Thruway as quickly as possible. There were hundreds of showings of Thruway films during these years. During the early 1960s, another feature film was made to encourage trucks to use the Thruway. Thereafter, film was used for traffic studies, training, and documentation of Thruway operations.