J.T.: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A feature film with the title J.T. It consists of two reels of color 16mm polyester film with optical sound.

The film opens with a young boy, J.T. Gamble (Kevin Hooks), being chased by boys. While running from the boys, J.T. encounters a police officer, which releases him from the boys' pursuit. In another scene, J.T. is again chased by two boys and flees into an abandoned building, while hiding from the bullies in the building, he finds a cat but leaves it there and heads to school. After school, J.T. returns to the abandoned building looking for the cat and feeds it with food that he took from the cafeteria. The rest of the film chronicles how J.T. nurses the injured cat back to health.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1969
• Directed by: Robert M. Young, American, born 1924
• Subject of: Kevin Hooks, American, born 1958
• Subject of: Ja'net Dubois, American, born 1945
• Subject of: Theresa Merritt, American, 1922 - 1998
• Owned by: D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
• Type: sound films
• Type: color films (visual works)
• Type: feature films
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: polyester film
• Dimensions: Duration (Reel 1): 25 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film): 900 Feet
• Dimensions: Duration (Reel 2): 20 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film): 725 Feet
• Place used: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Harlem, New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Children's television
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Youth
• Object number: 2017.55.60.1ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
• 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: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.