David Collier Sharpstone (1902-1967) was an American geologist who worked at the Kilembe Copper Mine in Uganda and the Connemara Mine in Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia). He lived with his wife, Ramah, and their children Alexandra (Alex) and William (Bill) in Kilembe while working at the Kilembe Mine and on a farm called Stoneycroft near Bulawayo while working at the Connemara Mine. The family also lived in London for a year while Sharpstone worked in Europe. In 1942, he traveled to South Africa as part of a U.S. survey team looking for alternative mineral resources during World War II. At different points in his career he worked for the Metals Reserve Corp, a subsidiary of the Reconstruction Finance Corp, and the Homestake Mineral Development Company, part of the Homestake Mining Company.
Sharpstone had a passion for photography. He used 16mm Eastman Kodak and 8mm and 16mm Bell and Howell cameras. He also used a Leica screw mount camera. He did his own editing and splicing and took many trips with his wife while living in Uganda and Zimbabwe to observe and film the animals and countryside. He died in California in 1967.
Lance Smith was a farmer and politician in Rhodesia. He was born in England in 1910 and emigrated to Rhodesia in 1935. He served as a policeman in Gwelo before moving with his family to Banket and buying a farm. He became active in politics in the 1950s and eventually rose to the position of Minister of Internal Affairs. He was one of the signers of the Unilateral Day of Independence (UDI) proclamation on November 11, 1965, which declared the independence of Rhodesia from Great Britain. He was also one of the founders of the Rhodesian Front Party, serving as the vice president under president Ian Smith, to whom he was not related. Smith left office in 1974 and returned to his farm in Banket, where he remained after Zimbabwe gained its independence in 1980 and Mugabe's rise to power. He died on May 4, 2000.
Smith, Ian. "Serving in Ian Smith's Rhodesian Air Force."
Wikipedia. "Lance Smith (politician)." Accessed December 7, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Smith_(politician)
The Sharpstone family's amateur films of eastern Africa were shot by members of the Sharpstone family during the 1940s and 1950s. They include footage of the family at home in Zimbabwe and Uganda, activities at the Conemara and Kilembe mines, and trips taken by the family to other parts of Africa, frequently to preserves to view wildlife. "Journey to Africa" was created by Lance Smith and David Sharpstone.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
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The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
The Sharpstone collection was donated by Richard Stewardson via the Archives of Ontario.
The David Collier Sharpstone films, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution
8 of the original 24 film reels were assembled with others by the archivist for digitization. This is noted in the individual items.
Processed by Samantha Oddi, August 2011, and Mark White, 2019
Encoded by Katherine Christensen, October 2020 and July 2021
This film footage was shot at Kilembe Mine (Uganda). Much of this roll consists of animals in a savannah setting (giraffes, elephants, hyenas, birds, hippos, crocodile, monkeys, wildebeest, zebra, wild boar, and "antelope"). It includes a sign "Elephants have right of way"; a dead giraffe; three instances of white travelers: two men (David Sharpstone and possibly Alf Pugsley, the General Manager of Kilembe Copper Mine, clearing brush from a dirt road so that their auto can pass) and a woman (Ramah Sharpstone, holding a still camera), David Sharpstone filming (at ca. 17:00), and David and Ramah Sharpstone standing with Alf and Patricia Pugsley in front of a car with license plate B10642 (ca. 21:00); a man holding a bag with words "UGANDA" and "MARCH," which probably holds copper and cobalt samples (at ca. 8:40). Of particular interest is the mining sequence at Kilembe mine, which shows open pit or "terraced" mining on a hillside. Shown also are men digging with pickaxes, shovels and wheelbarrows. The men working at the mine were from the Rokonzo Tribe.
This film footage was shot in Uganda near or on one of the 10 game preserves which has more wooded areas than savannah. It includes African wildlife (birds, antelope or gazelles or gnus, zebras, wildebeest, giraffe, elephants, and wild boars).
This film footage was shot in Stoneycroft Farm and Connemara Mine (Zimbabwe). It includes various family scenes, including footage of Alexandra Sharpstone and her mother Ramah on Christmas at Stoneycroft farm, Ramah and her friend Bagglia Gasson, Alexandra with her father David, Alexandra with the family's nanny, three of the family's five dogs, Alexandra with the family's Zulu employees and their children, and several guests of the Sharpstone family (Dr. Pat Gasson, Bagglia Gasson, possibly Dr. Arnold, possibly Sam Coulter, John Gasson (O.B.E.), Douggie Gasson, and Ramah's mother Esther Ingersoll Crystal); the annual Christmas party at Connemara Mine with entertainment organized by the mine owners and managers, including men from Connemara barracks in uniform, dancers and their marching band called the Springboks, families associated with the mine watching their performance, single dancers doing a version of the cake walk and couples doing the waltz and jitterbug in front of the Connemara Mines bus, the witchdoctor (wearing a costume of rags) and his entourage (two men in western clothes dancing with hip gyrations), and the Springbok band with painted faces playing guitars, banjo, sax, and drum; and footage of the family farm, Stoneycroft, including scenes of Alexandra and William playing with a watering can and pail in the dirt while watched by Ramah, her mother Esther, and Jane Gasson.
This film footage was shot in Victoria Falls, Matobo National Park, Esigodini (formerly Essexvale), and Bulawayo (Zimbabwe).
The first film roll contains images of the Blue Mountains; a sea plane, boat docks and military brass and white folks debarking; Victoria Falls with a rainbow from the mist; wildlife (giraffe, antelope, and zebra) filmed from a close proximity; filming from a plane (as a geologist, Sharpstone was interested in the topography of the land and liked to film it from the air): flatlands, river, and mountains; an expanse of lawn by a river (possibly the grounds of the Victoria Falls Hotel); white houses; Africans dancing with a couple of men playing drums; and elephants. This film is shot somewhere along what was called the Khami road to Motopos where Cecil John Rhodes is buried. The people dancing are probably from a nearby kraal. Sometimes tribespeople would wait along the way and perform for money.
The second film roll includes, in Bulawayo (a town at the base of cliffs), a western style park with flora, a white colonial building, a landscape, a mountain range, a road, desert flora, white uniformed men along a "parade" route in a town, and a sign: "George Cumming & Co The Statue Corner Outfitters"; along the road to Matobo National park, a sign: "To the Grave and World's View"; at Matobo National Park, African women selling red beads to Ramah Sharpstone, David and Ramah with friends on a rock outcropping with rounded boulders, and signs indicating the graves of Cecil John Rhodes and Leander Starr Jameson: "Here Lie the Remains of Cecil John Rhodes" and "Here Lies Leander Starr Jameson"; on the road to the Great Zimbabwe Ruins, a sign: "Great Zimbabwe Ruins" and Ramah posing in the 1946 Packard she was driving; at the ruins, a guard preventing visitors from removing stones and Ramah and David exploring the ruins with their friends and sitting on an elevated area nearby; on the road back to Bulawayo, Ramah and her friends posing in front of a flame tree, a group of tourists horseback riding, a farmer plowing his fields with oxen, and sunset; in Esigodini (formerly Essexvale), a large baobab tree, Ramah in front of an Essexvale sign, a small colonial town, a garden with a green house, Ramah walking around the garden, and driving through town; on the road, Ramah walking along a stone wall, red soil and more hills, and a herd of black and white goats; the Zambezi River; and by the N'Cema waterworks, a sign: "Municipality of Bulawayo N'Cema waterworks area no admission…", Ramah sitting on the wall of a lookout over the Zambezi River, the garden around the waterworks buildings, Ramah posing in the garden, and local tribespeople in western dress passing them on the road.
The two rolls were assembled by the archivist for digitization.
This film footage was shot in Kilembe Mine (Uganda). To 3:34 it seems to be same as 2000.6.1-4, with white houses (thatched roof traditional African rondvels and colonial style thatched or tiled roof houses belonging to mine workers and employees) and a man drumming with dancing. A games day organized by the mine managers begins at 3:35; the competitors and performers are mine workers, members of the Bakonzo tribe (a Bantu people). The celebration includes a sack race, balancing a bottle on the head, and a stilt race; men in a group, jumping, mock combat, and dancing; white onlookers, one with a still camera; the mine managers watching the competitions; an African child holding a tray approaching one man (possibly Alfred Edward Pugsley, Managing Director of the mine) who picks something up off the tray; and this same man handing out prizes for the competitions.
This film footage was shot in Kilembe Mine (Uganda) and at the Owen Falls Hydro-Electric Plant (Uganda). It includes Bakonzo mine workers dancing and chanting, two men enacting some form of combat, African men in pith helmets in chairs viewing the dancing, a man playing a stringed instrument and chanting, and a man shaking a gourd and chanting; driving along a road in a lush area of Uganda; David Sharpstone with a group of Batwa and another group of Batwa (possibly poachers) carrying elephant tusks; and on the return to Kilembe, the Rwenzori Mountains and a sign: "Kilembe", thatched roofs seen along the side of the road, Bakozo carrying baskets and herding goats, kraal, another sign to Kilembe, more Bakozo, lush vegetation, a man posing beside a creek, a man with a walking stick, panoramic shots of the hillsides, and Sharpstone entering one of the brick thatched roof houses (possibly the home office). Here the footage switches to black-and-white and includes a river roaring down the valley, a kraal with thatched roofs and curious inhabitants dressed in traditional and western dress, a man coming out of a mine entrance in the hillside, and Ramah Sharpstone standing with another person. The footage then shifts to the dedication of the Owen Falls Hydro-Electric dam in 1954 by Queen Elizabeth II, showing her arrival with Prince Philip (then the Duke of Edinburgh), footage of the dam and the crowds present, and Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, and Princess Margaret at the opening ceremony and receiving a tour of the inside of the power plant by His Excellency the Governor, Sir Andrew Cohen, K.C.M.G.
Film footage was shot in Kilembe (Uganda) and Kasese Airport, Kasese Station Extension Stirling Astaldi (Uganda). It includes domestic scenes outside the workers' homes (brick whitewashed homes with tiled roofs and brick homes with thatched roofs) in the Kilembe mining town (the Sharpstones lived in one of the whitewashed houses on a slope); signs: "Compound office" and "Uganda Police Kilembe"; Africans in police uniforms; more whitewashed homes; a sign: "East African Airways Kasese Airport"; a plane that has landed with white men and woman deplaning; a sign: "Kilembe Mines Ltd Brick and Tile Works"; a mine and men working, white men surveying hillside, lush landscape, mountains, mining activities, and Ramah and Alexandra standing on a lookout point by water/river and on hillside; a sign: "Mweya Safari lodge" which is overlooking a lake; The Sharpstones and friends on the steps of the lodge; a sign: "Kilembe Mines Main Office"; a series of low brick buildings with tiled roofs (the Kilembe Mines offices); 1950s cars and jeeps; a dirt road with street lights; engineers, geologists, and possibly architects gathering outside a building; a sign: "Kilembe Mines Ltd Mubuku hydro electric project 8 miles, E.L. Bateman Ltd general contractors…" (they provided engineering and contracting services to the mining and chemical industries); more shots around Kilembe; the Kilmebe Mines Hospital with doctors, nurses, and patients outside; a sign: "E.A.R. and H Western Uganda Extension Kasese Station Contractor Stirling Astaldi P.O. Box 796 Kampala"; David, Ramah, and Alexandra Sharpstone; and a group of the local mine managers, employees and their wives socializing on a covered verandah (possibly what was known as the Kilembe club) and playing ping pong and pool inside.
Film footage was shot in Mbeya, Tabora, Mpanda, Blantyre (Malawi), Kisumu, Nairobi (Kenya), Kazinga Channel, Kabale (Uganda), and Kivu (Democratic Republic of Congo). A description of the scene follows the intertitle in square brackets.
Main Title: A Journey from Southern Rhodesia Through Nyasaland, Tanganyika, Kenya and Uganda, 1946
The two rolls were assembled by the archivist for digitization.
Film footage was shot in Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) and possibly Kenya. Includes dupes of 2000.6.1-7 and 2000.6.1-4.
The first film roll includes a sea plane landing, white men in uniform debarking a boat followed by other white western men and women; the Zambezi River, Victoria Falls, a western woman at the edge drawing, and a rainbow in mist; a giraffe, zebra and other African wildlife; an aerial view of Victoria Falls, flat lands, and the Blue Mountains; the grounds of Victoria Falls Hotel; mountains (possiblty the Rwenzori Mountains) shrouded in clouds at the summit; and elephants and other African wildlife. It may have been on this trip that David Sharpstone was chased by an enraged bull elephant but was saved when Ramah Sharpstone drove the jeep out to meet him.
The second film roll includes the Zambezi River; cars stopped along a road waiting for a ferry barge being poled across the river (a license plate is reversed- the film is flipped); Ramah, a passenger in the lead car, talking to a policeman; the cars leaving the ferry; a building under construction with Ramah, two of Sharpstone's friends, and a young black man posing in front; the Sharpstones and their friends exiting another ferry; travelling along a dirt road; Ramah pulling something out of a hillock; a high waterfall, landscapes, and a stream; two African men posing, then four men, and then two men with one African woman (they may be Masai).
The two rolls were assembled by the archivist for digitization. Film, or section of film, is flipped.
Film footage shot in Rwanda and Uganda.
The first film roll begins with the same shots of an African man and boy as at the end of roll 2000.6.1-9. It includes Ramah Sharpstone and a friend posing with a local tribal chief then with King Mutara III Rudhigwa of Ruanda-Urundi; and the Sharpstones traveling through a game reserve: hippos, a dying antelope being prodded by another antelope, the second antelope fleeing, the dying antelope being dragged off into the bush by a lioness, a large herd of elephants crossing the road, a flock of great white pelicans, and elephants bathing in the river. The flim then switches to black-and-white and inlcudes a lake boat surrounded by Africans and three white men in raingear; views from the boat of other boats and people; a rhino running away from the bank; hippos diving out of the way of the boat; and Ramah and friends standing by a boat. The film then switches back to color and includes a heard of elephants moving away from cars into the bush, others grazing in the savanna, and more grazing by a lake (possibly Lake George).
The second film roll is back in Uganda near Kilembe and includes a mountainside with veins of open ore; huts and buildings (possibly the homes of mine workers); two friends of David Sharpstone walking down a road with a dog; Sharpstone's car turning at the sign "Kasese air field"; mine managers, employees, and geologists filmed coming out of a house and posing for a picture; and western men walking around the grounds of an estate or hotel.
The third film roll includes wildlife grazing.
The three rolls were assembled by the archivist for digitization.
Film footage shot in Uganda. It includes Ramah and David Sharpstone visiting a friend at his home built of fieldstone and cement with a tile roof; Ramah chatting with him; and the Rwenzori mountains with clouds and mist. The film then switches to black-and-white and includes road signs: "Ruwenzori 47 KM, Kasimiri 77 KM, Katwe 113 KM, Port Portal 238 KM, Kampala 525 KM" and "Kommanda 125 KM, Irumu 144 KM, Kilo, 252 KM, ABA 678 KM, Stanleyville 747 KM"; a group of Africans gathered together while one beats on the side of a petroleum drum; a view of the mountain road as it snakes its way down to the valley; Africans walking along a busy road carrying bundles on their heads and delivering to a building with a sign, "Ruzizi"; a woman pounding a cotton bundle; two African men in traditional dress tamping the cotton into a container made of sticks lasted together in a cylindrical shape for transportation; a group of African women in traditional dress; a white man, possibly part of the Sharpstone party, asking an African woman and her children to pose for a picture; an African woman with a baby strapped on her back; a small, old African man standing and staring, wearing traditional dress, beads and a pouch around his neck; more women and children; a man showing off his braided hair; African men in dugout boats spearing fish and by the side of the lake (possibly Lake George) cleaning fish; men carrying cleaned fish on a pole over their shoulders; two men carrying fish in a basket strung on a line, posing for the camera; women carrying gourds and balancing large pots on their heads; Ankole cattle wandering around; a group of African men, women, and children passing by carrying woven baskets, skins, and bananas; a group of men, women, and children; men and boys gathering root vegetables and putting them in baskets; and a market where Africans are displaying wares for sale.
Film footage shot in New York City (USA) and Lake Victoria (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania). It includes the NYC harbor (possibly a trip that the Sharpstones took on the South African Steamship Line from Cape Town to New York over 21 days); aerial views of Victoria Falls; the Zambezi roaring over the gorge at the Devil's Cataract (a statue of David Livingston on the Zimbabwe side of the Falls in the background); Ramah Sharpstone watching the falls from a look out point; aerial views of the falls with train tracks, trestle bridge, and roads below; the Zambezi rushing over the gorge and around the numerous islands in its midst; aerial views of Lake Victoria, the town of Victoria Falls, and herds of buffalo; and African wildlife: herds of buffalo, a hippo grazing, and a herd of deer.
Film footage shot in Crystal Ranch (Utah), California (possibly Calistoga, Napa Valley), Stoneycroft (Zimbabwe), Bulawayo (Zimbabwe), and London (UK).
The first roll was filmed at Crystal Ranch, the home of Ramah Sharpstone's parents, Alexander Crystal Sr. and Esther Ingersoll Crystal, and the California home of Mabel Collier Sharpsteen, David Sharpstone's mother (David changed his last name). The film footage of Crystal Ranch includes a herd of Suffolk sheep being herded into a corral with David Sharpstone standing by the gate (filmed by Ramah); the ranch buildings; another flock of sheep; Alexander Crystal Sr. milking cows; Alexander Crystal Jr. pouring grain into troughs for sheep; his brother, Mark Hall Crystal, posing with a Suffolk ram; panoramic views; David Sharpstone feeding a Suffolk sheep; Sharpstone smoking a pipe while riding a horse, accompanied by a sheep dog, with cars from the 1940s in the background; a family shot outside the house of Alexander Crystal Sr., Esther Ingersoll Crystal, Alexander Crystal Jr., and Ramah Crystal Sharpstone; Mark Crystal joining family group; and more shots of Suffolk sheep. The California film footage includes Mabel Collier Sharpsteen walking with a cane; other family members (possibly Colliers); David and Ramah Sharpstone; the family home; and Ramah Sharpstone and Mabel Collier Sharpsteen on the porch.
The second film roll was shot at Stoneycroft in Zimbabwe and includes Kraal, cattle, David Sharpstone branding cattle, cattle at a drinking water hole, and cattle being driven through a chute one by one through a trough filled with a dip to disinfect and kill parasites and ticks.
The third film roll includes Alexandra and William Sharpstone in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe; panoramic views of the Crystal Ranch in Utah, Alexandra and William posing in the vegetable garden, more panoramic views, Alexandra and William posing in the flower garden, Alexandra and William riding a horse led by their uncle Alexander, Alexandra and William riding a tractor driven by a ranch hand, Alexander Crystal Jr. and a ranch hand harvesting oats on a tractor, and Alexandra and William posing in front of a tractor with their Uncle Alexander and a ranch hand; Kensington Gardens in London, Alexandra and William walking with their driver and stopping to look at some deer, joining their nanny, playing by a fountain, and running through formal gardens; views of the English countryside; Alexandra, William, and Ramah watching the changing of the guard from their flat; Alexandra and William posing with Masa Zulu (the Stoneycroft farm manager) as he holds up a leopard who was poisoned for preying on the cattle, Alexandra and William posing with their new bicycles, antelope staring at the camera and then fleeing, Alexandra and William posing with puppies, playing with bricks, posing with two puppies, and getting a ride on a donkey from the Stoneycroft farm workers.
The three rolls were assembled by the archivist for digitization.
Film footage shot in Cape Town (South Africa), Khartoum (Sudan), Tsavo National Park (Kenya), and Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe).
The first film roll includes scenic views; a sign: "Groot Constantia die geskiedkundige van der stel woning toeganklik vir die publiek" ("Groot Constantia which historian Van der Stel made accessible to the public"); Musa Zulu, the manager of Stoneycroft farm, who accompanied Ramah and David Sharpstone on this trip as their driver, speaking with a group of Masai; panoramic shots of the area around Mount Longido; a building with writing "Longido(?) Hotel Food and Tea Tea room Sport soda Mandasi Pakis…" in a village with Africans; the Sharpstones back at Victoria Falls with friends (possibly Sam and Maggie Coulter); David Sharpstone standing by the Zambezi River; Sharpstone seated with a friend's wife by the river with his movie camera, smoking a pipe; Sharpstone standing with his back to the camera gazing at the river; friends posing by David Livingstone's statue; panoramic shots of the Zambezi and Victoria Falls; and Ramah and David Sharpstone throwing sticks into the water for Ramah's two German Shepherds.
The second film roll includes a sign: "Cordons Tree Marine Airport Khartoum"; views of the city from across the Nile, a harbor, western and African sail boats, a fort on the water's edge, and street scenes; Africans walking or riding bicycles through the market area, some wearing traditional dress, others wearing western dress; a sign on a store: "H Fazel curiousities Merchant"; a group of school boys posing smiling for the camera, men in traditional dress sitting around with a female traveling companion of Sharpstone's walking past; views of the market; the same woman posing with a small black man on crutches wearing a white suit; views from a car proceeding through the streets and towards the African housing section of Khartoum; views of a felucca and sailboats on the Nile; a church; more views of a church, the palace, and western housing along the banks of the Nile; aerial views from a plane; some shots of unloading workboats; a sign: "Hier Ruhen sechzehn Deutsche Helden" with a list of names and rank; women in traditional dress staring at the cameraman and walking; an African guard dressed in a khaki uniform standing beside the entrance to Tsavo National Park and a sign: "Tsavo National Park warning this area contains dangerous game you enter at your own risk Exercise care"; and wildlife (giraffe, antelope, gazelles, rhino, hyena, and lionesses).
The two rolls were assembled by the archivist for digitization.
"Journey to Africa" is an edited film divided into two parts (with subtitles). This film was made by Sharptone and Lance Smith. David Sharpstone and Alfred Pugsley, the General Manager of Kilembe Copper Mine, appear in the film.
This film was originally on three rolls, but the first two were assembled by the archivist for digitization.
This film footage was shot in London (UK), Rome (Italy), Entebbe (Uganda), Tororo, Owen Falls Power Development, and Kilembe Mine (Uganda).
Main title: "Journey to Africa" "by Lance Smith".
A description of the scene follows the intertitles in square brackets.
This film footage was shot in Katwe Road (Uganda), Rome (Italy), and London (UK).
A description of the scene follows the intertitle in square brackets.