| Newark Athlete | |
| Director: | William K.L. Dickson |
| Producer: | William K.L. Dickson |
| Studio: | Edison's Black Maria |
| Distributor: | Edison Studios |
| Runtime: | 12 seconds |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | Silent |
Newark Athlete is an 1891 American short silent film directed and produced by William Kennedy Dickson. The film, roughly 12 seconds in length, displays a young athlete swinging Indian clubs. It was filmed in May or June 1891, in the Photographic Building at the Edison Laboratory, West Orange, New Jersey.[1] The Black Maria was not constructed until late 1892 or early 1893. The film was made to be viewed using Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope.
In 2010, Newark Athlete was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It is currently the oldest film chosen to be in the Registry.[2]