In 1940, the North Carolina movie maker H. Lee Waters came to Dante, Virginia, and filmed community life: children and teachers in the school yards, men lining up to receive their pay, folks shopping at the Clinchfield Coal Company Store #2 and making their way along the bustling streets of this busy town, once the headquarters for the coal company and home to 5,000 people. 

The movies are now available for viewing online, thanks to the Duke University Library's David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Collection. In addition to the two movies shown on this website, the Logbook shows when the movies played in Dante, how many attended, and how much money H. Lee Waters took in. On Saturday night, December 14, 1940, 306 packed the movie theater, paying between 10 and 27 cents each. These historical records are a treasure! 

This material is made available for research, scholarship, and private study. 
https://repository.duke.edu/dc/hleewaters