Columbia Pictures history can be traced back to 1918 when brothers Harry and Jack Cohn formed a partnership with their associate Joe Brandt, to produce low-budget short films and featurettes; the three were former employees of Carl Laemmle. They called the company CBC Film Sales (Cohn-Brandt-Cohn). Incorporated in 1924, CBC became Columbia Pictures Corporation; films were created on Hollywood's Poverty Row, an area housing small production companies that churned out a large volume of low-budget westerns and B pictures. Columbia developed into to a major Hollywood studio by the 1930s due in part to the leadership of Harry Cohn and the talent of director Frank Capra. Capra contributed to a number of "firsts" for the studio including Columbia's first Academy Award for Best Picture of 1934 for It Happened One Night.

Columbia Pictures history can be traced back to 1918 when brothers Harry and Jack Cohn formed a partnership with their associate Joe Brandt, to produce low-budget short films and featurettes; the three were former employees of Carl Laemmle. They called the company CBC Film Sales (Cohn-Brandt-Cohn). Incorporated in 1924, CBC became Columbia Pictures Corporation; films were created on Hollywood's Poverty Row, an area housing small production companies that churned out a large volume of low-budget westerns and B pictures. Columbia developed into to a major Hollywood studio by the 1930s due in part to the leadership of Harry Cohn and the talent of director Frank Capra. Capra contributed to a number of "firsts" for the studio including Columbia's first Academy Award for Best Picture of 1934 for It Happened One Night.

253.2 linear feet (578 boxes, 2 record cartons)

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