Charles Perryman Newsreels - Smith Tower Parachute Jump

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Digitization of this film was made possible by a grant from the Brunhilde Wislicenus Fund of The Mountaineers Foundation.

In this film, probably made in the 1920s, one-armed daredevil Mink De Ronda jumps off the Smith Tower in Seattle wearing a parachute. At that time, the Smith Tower was the tallest building in the U.S. west of the Mississippi River. This film was made by cameraman Charles Perryman. Perryman's grandson Steve Turner said that his grandfather blocked the door to keep police from capturing the jumper.

(Film notes and video clip by Lowell Skoog.)