Rev. Solomon Sir Jones was a Baptist minister, businessman, and amateur filmmaker. This collection of home movies by Jones documents African American communities in Oklahoma between 1924 and 1928, depicting residents at work and in their homes, as well as activities at local schools, businesses, and churches. Community social events such as parades and funerals are prominently featured.
Description
A 16mm silent, black and white film (a) with original metal film reel (b) and original metal film can (c) featuring footage taken in Oklahoma during the middle and late 1920s by Solomon Sir Jones, the second in a collection of nine films.
There is an inscription on the metal canister in red ink that is partially obscured by two whtie labels, visible is [ance # 2]. The '2' has been written over again in black ink, and below it is [SEE LIST] also in black ink. Written on the adhesive labels in black ink is [Oklahoma - Jones / This is on video 2].
The film opens with people dressed in semi-formal attire leaving the front door of a building. The next scene shows a woman shaking hands of people leaving the front door. Then same woman is then shown feeding chickens. The next scene shows the Mount Olive Baptist Church where S. S. Jones was the pastor. The next series of footage shows sheep in a field, two women and a girl on a front porch, and one of the women driving a car and exiting it to return to the porch. There is footage of the Langston, Oklahoma, post office, and cars pulling up to a gas station. The next scene shows a parade with soldiers in uniform followed by a group of men and then a group of women, perhaps students from the Colored Agricultural and Normal University (now Langston University). A man feeds chickens in the next scene that also shows a farmhouse and poultry houses. Several well-dressed men walk around outside. The next footage shows a group of several buildings, perhaps the university that the students paraded in front of earlier in the film. The following scene shows a man and a woman in front of a store with ducks. That is followed by footage of men and women picking cotton in a field. The next scene shows picked cotton in wagons pulled by horses. The cotton is removed from the wagons using a long tube attached to a building. The next footage shows cotton coming out of a door wrapped up in bales. The men roll the cotton out of the door. The next scene shows a large house with a car pulling up in front of it, then there is footage of a steam locomotive pulling passenger rail cars. The next scene shows men walking out of a store with a "Meat-Market" sign hanging over the front door. There is also some footage of the store interior. The next scene shows men and women dressed in semi-formal attire leaving the front door of what appears to be a school. A different school building that people exit in the next scene is identified as Vernon High School.
