The Packard Humanities Institute (PHI) is a

non-profit foundation A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

, established in 1987, and located in

Los Altos, California Los Altos (; Spanish for "The Heights") is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 31,625 according to the 2020 census. Most of the city's growth occurred between 1950 and 1980. Originally ...

, which funds projects in a wide range of

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

concerns in the fields of archaeology, music, film preservation, and historic conservation, plus Greek epigraphy, with an aim to create tools for basic research in the

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

History

Over the years, it has created databases on

Latin literature Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literature ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

texts, texts in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and

Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...

, Ancient Greek papyri and inscriptions,

Founding Fathers of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the Am ...

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

and others, and also

Persian literature Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...

in translation. It also funds external projects such as the

Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources The ''Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources'' ("DMLBS") is a lexicon of Medieval Latin published by the British Academy. The dictionary is not founded upon any earlier dictionary, but derives from original research. After decades of ...

and the complete works of C.P.E. Bach. PHI is also concerned with early education of children. The institute is independent of the

David and Lucile Packard Foundation The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a private foundation that provides grants to not-for-profit organizations. It was created in 1964 by David Packard (co-founder of HP) and his wife Lucile Salter Packard. Following David Packard's death ...

and is not associated in any way with any Hewlett-Packard Company foundations. Its current president is former professor

David Woodley Packard David Woodley Packard, Ph.D. (born 1940) is a former professor and noted philanthropist; he is the son of Hewlett-Packard co-founder David Packard. A former HP board member (1987–1999), David is best known for his opposition to the HP-Compaq me ...

, who has served as a director, but never an officer, of Hewlett Packard.

National Audio-Visual Conservation Center

In 1997 with the approval of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

the

purchased the former high-security storage facility operated by the

Federal Reserve Board The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping implement the m ...

. The facility is located inside Mount Pony in Culpeper, Virginia. With Congress and the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

the facility was transformed into the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, which completed construction in mid-2007, called the Packard Campus (PCAVC).

The Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation is a facility funded as a gift to the nation by the Packard Humanities Institute. The Packard Campus is the site where the nation's library acquires, preserves and provides access to the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of motion pictures, television programs, radio broadcasts and sound recordings. The Packard Campus is home to nearly 7 million collection items. It provides staff support for the Library of Congress National Film Preservation Board, the

National Film Preservation Board The United States National Film Preservation Board (NFPB) is the board selecting films for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. It was established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988. The National Film Regis ...

and the national registries for film and recorded sound.

Restoration of historic theaters

upStanford Theatre, Palo Alto California PHI has worked on the restoration of two historic theaters: *

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

Fox Theatres Fox Theatres was a large chain of movie theaters in the United States dating from the 1920s either built by Fox Film studio owner William Fox, or subsequently merged in 1929 by Fox with the West Coast Theatres chain, to form the Fox West Co ...

, that is now the new home of the

Opera San José Opera San José is an American opera company founded in 1984 by Irene Dalis (1925-2014) based in San Jose, California. History Opera San José was founded in 1984 by mezzo-soprano singer Irene Dalis (1925-2014), who directed the company for ...

. Opened 1927 the San Jose Fox closed in 1973. PHI renovated and reopened in it in 2004. Now called the California Theater. * PHI worked on the restoration of the historic

Stanford Theatre The Stanford Theatre is a classical independent movie theater in Palo Alto, California. It was designed and built in the 1920s as a movie palace styled in neoclassical Persian and Moorish architecture. Today it specializes in films produced betw ...

. Designed by architects

Weeks and Day Weeks and Day was an American architectural firm founded in 1916 by architect Charles Peter Weeks (1870–1928) and engineer William Peyton Day (1886–1966). Weeks was born in Copley, Ohio, educated in the atelier of Victor Laloux at the Éco ...

, the theater was originally opened in 1925. In 1987 it was purchased and restored by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. It is currently operated by the Stanford Theatre Foundation, led by

Packard Humanities Institute, Santa Clarita

Using the experience and knowledge of helping make the Packard Campus (PCAVC), Packard started a new project in Santa Clarita. Opened in 2014, Packard Humanities Institute in Santa Clarita, California has film vaults for

media preservation Preservation of documents, pictures, recordings, digital content, etc., is a major aspect of archival science. It is also an important consideration for people who are creating time capsules, family history, historical documents, scrapbooks and fam ...

. The facility has one of the most modern vaults for the storage of

nitrate film Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and ...

. The exterior of the facility is

ancient Greek architecture Ancient Greek architecture came from the Greek-speaking people (''Hellenic'' people) whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese, the Aegean Islands, and in colonies in Anatolia and Italy for a period from about 900 BC unti ...

made with

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

. The interior is made in the style of

San Marco, Florence San Marco is a religious complex in Florence, Italy. It comprises a church and a convent. The convent, which is now the Museo Nazionale di San Marco, has three claims to fame. During the 15th century it was home to two famous Dominicans, the pa ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

. Packard Humanities Institute in Santa Clarita is partnering with the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the ar ...

and

UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA TFT), is one of the 12 schools within the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in Los Angeles, California. Its creation was groundbreaking in that it was the first time a leadi ...

in the preservation for both the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

and Packard Humanities film library. PHI Santa Clarita also holds 400,000 archive films from Paramount Pictures,

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

and Republic Pictures. PHI Santa Clarita also holds and is transferring the

Hearst Metrotone News ''Hearst Metrotone News'' (renamed ''News of the Day'' in 1936) was a newsreel series (1914–1967) produced by the Hearst Corporation, founded by William Randolph Hearst. History Hearst produced silent newsreels under the titles of ''Hear ...

collection,

newsreels A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, inform ...

made from 1915 to 1975, on a

Scanity Spirit DataCine is a telecine and a motion picture film scanner. This device is able to transfer 16 mm film, 16mm and 35mm movie film, 35mm Color motion picture film, motion picture film to NTSC or PAL television standards or one of many High-def ...

motion picture film scanner A motion picture film scanner is a device used in digital filmmaking to scan original film for storage as high-resolution digital intermediate files. A film scanner scans original film stock: negative or positive print or reversal/IP. Units may s ...

. File:Packard Humanities Institute, Santa Clarita.jpg, Packard Humanities Institute, Santa Clarita File:PackardHumanities Institute, Santa Clarita.jpg, PHI Santa Clarita, Film Vault

Packard Humanities Institute Collection

Since 2010, the Packard Humanities Institute Collection has been held at the

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of m ...

. This collection is the largest known assemblage of theatrical trailers on film, consisting of over 60,000 coming attractions, advertisements, theatrical snipes, film excerpts, television spots, and public service announcements.

References

External links

Packard Humanities Institute
official website
Packard Humanities Institute - Persian Literature in Translation

Classical Latin Texts

Searchable Greek Inscriptions

The Papers of Benjamin Franklin
{{Authority control 1987 establishments in California Ancient Greece studies Conservation and environmental foundations in the United States Greek epigraphy Humanities institutes Los Altos, California Non-profit organizations based in the San Francisco Bay Area Organizations based in Santa Clara County, California Organizations established in 1987