Michael Holman Family Home Movie #12: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

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), and an original cardboard film box (c).

The film begins with images of the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The various shots capture the main structure itself, as well as the surrounding grounds. In one shot, a group of people descend a set of stairs in front of the temple. Next, an older woman, possibly Pauline Woods, stares into the lens not realizing that the camera is recording. This is followed by a series of shots depicting a teenage boy, David Gaylord Montgomery, wearing a navy suit and white shirt and interacting with and posing for the camera. He emerges from the front door of a home, poses in front of the home, and then poses in front of a car. The final series of shots show an older woman posing in the yard of a home in an unidentified location. The series also includes images of plants in the home's garden.

The standard yellow Kodak 8mm film box (c) that accompanies the film has handwritten mailing addresses for processing film in Europe. It also includes a brief handwritten content note.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1961-1962
• Created by: Pauline Thompson Wood, American, born 1901
• Owned by: Michael Holman, American, born 1955
• Subject of: Baha'i House of Worship, founded 1912
• Created by: David Gaylord Montgomery, American, 1947 - 2002
• Type: silent films
• Type: home movies
• Type: color films (visual works)
• Type: 8mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film, plastic and cardboard
• Dimensions: Duration: 3 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film): 50 Feet
• Place depicted: Wilmette, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Bahá'í faith
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Religion
• Object number: 2016.31.3.12.1abc
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• 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: © Michael Holman Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.