Michael Holman Family Home Movie #5: 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), 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.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1957-1958
• Created by: Pauline Thompson Wood, American, born 1901
• Owned by: Michael Holman, American, born 1955
• Type: silent films
• Type: home movies
• Type: color films (visual works)
• Type: 8mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film, plastic, cardboard, and paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: Duration: 3 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film): 50 Feet
• Place depicted: Casablanca, Morocco, North Africa, Africa
• Place depicted: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Travel
• Object number: 2016.31.3.5.1abcd
• 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.