Historic New England is crowdsourcing home videos to use in our upcoming exhibition at the Eustis Estate, "Patios, Pools, & the Invention of the American Backyard." The Smithsonian exhibition is a surprising exploration of mid-century backyards. From the rise of suburbs and tract houses to the beauty of postwar garden design and the birth of the environmental movement, the exhibition is brought to life with historic designs, rare archival photographs, and fun, retro ads from popular culture. Read more about the exhibition here.

As part of the exhibition, we are looking for film footage (transferred to an MP4 file or uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo) showing families at leisure in their backyards, whether it be at cookout with family and friends, playing games, swimming in the pool, etc. The footage will be displayed on touchscreens and tablets during the run of the exhibition, and may be used on HistoricNewEngland.org and in publicity for the exhibition.

On the following page, you will be asked to submit a web link to your video or the MP4 file, in addition to the family name, location, and date the video was filmed. If we select your footage, we will send you a release form via email.

"Patios, Pools, & the Invention of the American Backyard" is presented by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and the Smithsonian Gardens’ Archive of American Gardens. SITES has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside Washington, D.C., for more than sixty-five years. SITES connects Americans to their cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science and history, which are shown wherever people live, work, and play.