Do You Remember "Maje" Herbert M. Dawley

Remembering Major Herbert M. Dawley

Do you remember Herbert Dawley, or Maje, as he was known to his friends? If so, someone is searching for you. Stephen Czerkas, the Director of The Dinosaur Museum in Blanding, Utah, is nearing the completion of a biographical book/documentary on Major Herbert M. Dawley and he is looking for anyone who might have any further insights or comments to contribute to the project. 

Dawley was born on March 15, 1880, in Chillicothe, Ohio, and lived in Chatham, NJ from 1917 to 1970. It may seem unlikely, but more than 40 years after his passing, there are people still here in Chatham, and elsewhere, who remember Dawley mostly as the Director of the Chatham Community Players Playhouse. Despite having a distinguished career in which he directed well over 100 plays, many people who knew him may be surprised to learn that he is also remembered for his significant contributions to the automobile industry and motion pictures. 

Before he moved to Chatham, from 1907 to 1916, Dawley worked for Pierce-Arrow Automobiles for nearly a decade and was one of their most important designers responsible for the remarkable artistry the cars are best known for. He received a patent for his innovation to incorporate headlights directly into the fenders which improved their efficiency, and created the distinctive artistic appearance of Pierce-Arrow vehicles. 

After leaving Pierce-Arrow, Dawley and his wife, Verne, moved to Chatham where he started a motion picture studio. As ambitious as this was, Dawley was inspired by his vision of being able to recreate realistic portrayals of dinosaurs using miniature articulated models that he photographed one frame at a time, repositioning the models again and again to create the illusion of movement. His first movie, "The Ghost of Slumber Mountain," was released in theaters in 1918 and it became a sensational hit and huge financial success. Dawley was the first to use the stop-motion animation process to depict dinosaurs as believably realistic animals. In his own way, Dawley was the "Spielberg" of his day. Throughout the 1920's, Dawley continued to create animated movies, including a series of comedic films in a silhouette style of animation with Tony Sarg, the prolific artist and puppeteer. 
Dawley was one of the original founders of the Chatham Community Players which began in 1922. He also continued to make live-action motion pictures utilizing his unique form of special effects which resulted in a series of religious films that were for churches, and a series of educational films for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He also became a proficient puppeteer and had his own traveling marionette show. His puppets and his distinctive narration voice appeared in one of the earliest televised experiments on television.

Dawley was an artist extraordinaire whose accomplishments were many but, none that he felt were so great as the many friends he held so dear. As a fitting tribute to Maje, Czerkas is looking for as many people that he can find to provide any memories they might have about Herbert Dawley. Czerkas is also searching for anyone who might have some of Dawley's paintings or sculptures, as well as, any photographs and momentoes so that they could be included in the book/documentary. The search goes on. For those who may want to contribute and participate in the project please contact Stephen at: dinos@dinosaur-museum.org