"Tomorrow's Beef Today" and Other Jerry Litton Footage - 1970, 1974

This footage comes from the archives at the State Historical Society of Missouri (SHSMO). It was digitized from its original 16mm film with support from the Jerry Litton Memorial Family Foundation. You can support the digitization efforts of the Society by becoming a member at https://shsmo.org/join

This video is raw footage copied from the format in which it was originally received. It may include dead air, test patterns, slate boards, and audio tones. The quality varies and it may include video/audio drop outs, artifacts, and other playback distortions.

This video contains a partial copy of "Tomorrow's Beef Today," an agricultural film about Charolais cattle in Missouri narrated in part by Jerry Litton and featuring some footage of the Litton farm outside Chillicothe, MO.

0:00-29:45 - "Tomorrow's Beef Today" (partial) - 1970
30:05-58:53 - B-roll of Jerry Litton and scenes from Washington D.C. later used for the intro of "Dialogue with Litton" (no audio) - ca. 1974

The original film and digitized files (DVD 43) are held as part of the Jerry L. Litton Papers (C3730) collection at the State Historical Society of Missouri: https://collections.shsmo.org/manuscr...

In the 1970s, Jerry L. Litton was a political rising star from Missouri. He ran for U.S. Congress for Missouri's 6th district in 1972 and won. He was reelected in 1974 with overwhelming support. In 1976, he began a run to be a U.S. senator from Missouri. On the night of his primary win–August 3, 1976–Litton and his family perished in an airplane accident.

From 1974-1976, Litton hosted a popular television show, "Dialogue with Litton," which was broadcast statewide. He invited prominent political guests to speak to audience members about their concerns with government. Twenty-nine guests appeared on the show, including Georgia governor and future U.S. president Jimmy Carter, Missouri senator Thomas Eagleton, and the first African American congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm, of New York.

Learn more about Litton in his Historic Missourian biography at https://historicmissourians.shsmo.org...