Washington District Of Columbia-1945: Little Girl in a Red Coat Runs Across a Shaded Lawn Toward the Camera

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit

Answers requests for mid-1940s colour footage of a child at play during a family visit to Washington, D.C., for documentaries, education pieces and nostalgic montages.

Period detail

The rounded dark cars parked in the background and the child's knee-length red coat with a white collar may show mid-1940s styling.

Home-movie behavior

A parent films their toddler running freely toward the lens, an unstaged moment of a child's excitement during a family outing.

What appears in frame

A little girl in a red coat, red socks and white shoes, a tree-shaded lawn, a bare dirt path, a park bench at left, parked cars on a road behind, and a massive tree trunk at right.

Film character

Grainy colour 8mm with saturated reds, muted greens, soft focus, dust specks and gentle handheld sway give the shot a period home-movie texture.

Edit role

Works as a memory beat or emotional insert, or as a cutaway after the Capitol steps and dome shots from the same reel.

Historical context

Colour film reached the 8mm format in 1936, and this reel shows a family recording a visit to the Capitol grounds with their small child in the mid-1940s.

Research note

The child is a minor with a visible face and is not identified, so likeness permissions are separate from the film's copyright; the setting is public grounds with no visible logos.

Research search match

Researchers might search 1940s girl in red coat running, colour 8mm home movie Washington DC, toddler on Capitol lawn circa 1945, or vintage child playing in park.

Archive pairing path

Pair first with Mother and little girl walking down the Capitol steps and Tilt down the United States Capitol dome from this reel, then other 1940s Washington, D.C. visitor footage, then vintage children-at-play clips.