OPUS Archives and Research Center

OPUS will purchase archival film canisters to preserve and store 16mm film reels from the Joseph Campbell Collection to ensure its longevity and accessibility for future scholars and students. Joseph Campbell made mythology popular when he and Bill Moyers came together to record The Power of Myth series on PBS, but Campbell's legacy extends to more than 40 years before the popular series. His groundbreaking work on myth is an academic study at many universities. OPUS is the custodian of the Campbell archive collection, which includes his library, manuscripts, images, audio lectures, and 16mm film reels of his lectures. These lectures are important historical documents in the field of comparative myth and religion, and they are in a mode that is very sensitive to time and environment. These reels are in their original metal canisters, which are not archival and show signs of rust.