Created by
Wood, Pauline Thompson, American, born 1901
Owned by
Holman, Michael, American, born 1955
Date
1957-1958
Medium
acetate film, plastic, cardboard, and paper (fiber product)
Dimensions
Duration: 3 Minutes
Length (Film): 50 Feet
Caption
This film is from a collection of home movies filmed by the family of Michael Holman, an important figure in the history of hip hop. The collection predominately contains family vacation footage shot when Holman's father, Lt. Thomas Holman, was stationed in Europe with the US Army. Most of the footage was captured by Holman's grandmother, Pauline Thompson Wood. In addition to the European vacation films, the footage shot by Pauline Wood documents her involvement with the Baha'i Faith and includes footage of Baha'i events and pilgrimages to holy sites in Israel and Palestine. There is also footage of the family at home in San Francisco and other sites in California.
Description
This film is from a collection of home movies filmed by the family of Michael Holman, an important figure in the history of hip hop. It consists of a single reel of 8mm silent acetate film with color (a), an original plastic film reel (b), an original cardboard film box (c), and a handwritten note on white paper (d).
The film begins with multiple shots from the deck of a large ship, ending with a shot of Pauline Thompson Wood wearing a red sweater and standing next to a life preserver. The shot of Wood is followed by a series of shots depicting an unidentified coastline. Next is a series of street scene shots in Casablanca, Morocco taken from a moving vehicle and on foot. There are then more shots from the deck of the ship, including a series depicting the Statue of Liberty and New York City. The final shot is of a woman walking down a set of stairs in front of a home.
The standard yellow Kodak 8mm film box (c) that accompanies the film features handwritten mailing addresses for processing film in Europe, while the handwritten note (d) includes a short list about the film's content.
Place depicted
Casablanca, Morocco, North Africa, Africa
New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
Collection title
Michael Holman Family Collection
Classification
Time-based Media - Moving Images
Type
silent films
home movies
color films (visual works)
8mm (photographic film size)
Topic
Families
Film
Travel
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Object number
2016.31.3.5.1abcd
Restrictions & Rights
© Michael Holman
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd51f1fbe03-9c77-4430-a5bc-12cadeb7110d

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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