Cab Calloway Home Movie #1: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A 16mm black-and-white, silent home movie film by Cab and Zulme "Nuffie" Calloway during a tour of the Caribbean, with film edge code indicating a year of 1951. The film strip consists of double perforated film stock with frames in the middle.

The film begins with two panning shots of elementary school boys standing in formation and performing group exercises. This is followed by a sequence of shots taken from a moving vehicle. The shots depict a post office, a police station, and homes along the side of the road. A sign on the police station indicates that the location is Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago. Next, the camera captures a rail crossing as a freight train passes by. Further shots from the road follow. Most notably, there is a shot of school children studying at their desks outdoors. The next shot depicts a group of unidentified people posing for the camera in an unidentified location. This is followed by a panning shot taken at the courtyard of a school. A sign indicates that it is the Chaguanas Government School. The subsequent series of shots document the processing of raw sugar cane into sugar and features a number of the workers posing for the camera. The final sequence, taken from a moving vehicle, depicts individuals and homes along the side of the road. One shot in particular depicts a Hindu temple in the shape of a small tower.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1951
• Created by: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
• Created by: Nuffie Calloway, American, 1915 - 2008
• Type: silent films
• Type: home movies
• Type: black-and-white films (visual works)
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film
• Dimensions: Length (film strip): 150 Feet
• Dimensions: Duration: 00:04:46
• Place filmed: Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago, Caribbean, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Children
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Conductors (Musicians)
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Hinduism
• Object number: A2015.273.2.1.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Cabella Calloway Langsam
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Creative Arts By Calloway, LLC Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.