Emma Knowlton Lytle of Boliver County, Mississippi, donated her 8mm home movie footage to the Southern Media Archive in 1994. A rich collection dating from 1938 through the 1950s, the silent footage documents everyday life of the landowner's family as well as that of the African American sharecroppers who worked on Perthshire, the Knowlton family's plantation. Lytle went a step further than most home movie makers and produced an edited film titled Raisin' Cotton.

Raisin' Cotton depicts the full cycle of a cotton crop from breaking the ground, to making a bale, to weaving the cloth in the textile mills of North Carolina. Recently, Lytle recorded a commentary to accompany the film. Karen Glynn, assistant director of the Southern Media Archive, has added this commentary to the film to create a sound track. The sound version of Raisin' Cotton is available through the Southern Culture Catalog at the cost of $25 plus shipping. To order a copy of the film, call the Southern Culture Catalog at 800-390-3527.