---
title: "1917 Fire-Safety Film Found in Libraries, Newly Restored, to Debut"
date: 2026-08-20T09:20:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/1917-fire-safety-film-found-in-libraries-newly-restored-to-debut"
section: Articles
---
# 1917 Fire-Safety Film Found in Libraries, Newly Restored, to Debut

*August 20, 2026* — by [Kjerstin Johnson](/author/kjerstin-johnson)


> UMD May Have Only Copy of Silent Melodrama Created by U.S., Chicago Officials

*AN UNBELIEVER CONVINCED 4 K 16 FPS MASTER mov Merged mp4 01 11 50 13 Still004 1920x1080 — A still from the 109-year-old restored film “An Unbeliever Convinced” shows a woman swooning after escaping from the fire. Below, a firetruck of the era speeds across Chicago toward the blaze.*

<span>A 1917 film dramatizing the importance of fire safety that was discovered in the University of Maryland Libraries archives has been restored and will officially premiere Aug. 25 at the Chicago History Museum.</span>

<span>“An Unbeliever Convinced” is a silent, 20-minute PSA created by the National Fire Protection Association, the Bureau of Fire Prevention and Public Safety of the city of Chicago, the Chicago Fire Department and the Chicago Police Department. It was produced by the standards and safety organization Underwriters Laboratories (UL), which had been searching for the film for decades. It was found only recently in UMD Libraries’ Special Collections. </span>

<span>“To the best of my knowledge, the only copy that existed is the one we had,” said Mark Coulbourne, UMD Libraries’ head of preservation.</span>

<span>In the film, a wealthy real estate owner named E.H. Simpson thoughtlessly disregards orders from Chicago’s fire chief to make sure one of his buildings is up to code. Workers go about their business there until an errant cigarette in the basement starts a fire. As the fire spreads and panic ensues, the film ironically juxtaposes excerpts from the chief’s neglected instructions: </span>*Section 321: Remove all rubbish from basement. Section 24: Install an approved system of automatic sprinklers in basement. Section 74: Change door at foot of stairs to swing outward.*

<span>The film shows the Chicago firefighters arriving and gallantly saving as many people as possible from the fire, but the film ends with a body in the morgue: that of Simpson’s daughter, Dorothy. “Convinced—but too late,” the title card reads. </span>


*A fire truck leaves its Chicago station to fight a blaze.*




**Topics:** [Arts &amp; Culture](https://today.umd.edu/tags/arts-culture)



**Units:** [University Libraries](https://today.umd.edu/topic/university-libraries)