Biography & career
Virginia Garner, known as "Jinny", was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 18, 1915. Virginia and Ray Garner married in 1938. She and her husband had a daughter and son.
Several of the Garners' films supported by the Harmon Foundation are available at the Library of Congress and the National Archives. Reportedly, the Garners worked with the Harmon Foundation from 1938 to 1956. African Motion Picture Project, a series of films supported by the Harmon Foundation consists of a series of films shot in Central Africa for 18 months in the late 1930s to early 1940s. According to one writer, "The missionary films produced and sponsored by the Harmon Foundation’s Religious Motion Picture Foundation were meant for a Western audience to consume. It was the hope that this consumption would generate additional support for missionary work in Africa, and by extension, support for colonization." The Garners made Africans remove the clothes they wore so that they might look more primitive and thus in line with the expectations of American audiences.
The Garners took up residence in Idyllwild, southern California, in 1966. Virginia was made Trustee Emeritus of the Board of Governors and Trustees of the Idyllwild Arts Foundation for her contributions to the organization.
