Michael Holman Family Home Movie #26: 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 plastic cover (c).

The film begins with several establishing shots of Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles, CA. Included are wide shots of the building and students exiting a school bus at the main entrance. Next, a series of shots depict students working in a chemistry classroom. Thomas Holman briefly appears as a chemistry teacher, wearing a white button down shirt with an open navy sweater and purple tie. The subsequent section of footage consists of wide shots of major landmarks on the University of Southern California campus. This is followed by a shot of people chatting in a classroom. In the next several shots, this same group of people are gathered outdoors on the USC campus chatting and mugging for the camera. The film concludes with further shots of landmarks on the USC campus and a Southern Pacific freight train passing through an unidentified location.

An original yellow plastic film reel (b) with a brief content note and an original blue plastic film container (c) with Drewry Photocolor markings.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1972-1973
• Created by: Lt. Thomas Holman, American, born 1926
• Subject of: Lt. Thomas Holman, American, born 1926
• Subject of: Crenshaw High School, founded 1968
• Subject of: University of Southern California, founded 1880
• Owned by: Michael Holman, American, born 1955
• Type: silent films
• Type: home movies
• Type: color films (visual works)
• Type: Super 8
• Medium: acetate film and plastic
• Dimensions: Duration: 3 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film): 50 Feet
• Place depicted: Los Angeles, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Science
• Topic: Youth
• Object number: 2016.31.3.26.1abc
• 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.