Michael Holman Family Home Movie #7: 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 a series of shots depicting a blue ranch-style house Girard St. on a quiet residential street., focusing on one home in particular. The next series of shots depict a backyard with a lush garden and includes close ups of many flowers. This is followed by shots of a family exiting a home on the street, getting into a car, and driving away. Subsequently, there are multiple, overexposed wide shots overlooking San Francisco. The next series depicts Pauline Thompson Wood’s dog, Baby Dog, a dog on the sidewalk. A shot of the Fairmont Hotel follows. Next, there is an underexposed shot taken from a moving vehicle. The film concludes with a series of shots taken in front of the home from the beginning of the film. In this series, David Montgomery wears a red striped shirt with khaki pants and waves at the camera. Jewelle Hart is on the left wearing a white shirt with a navy skirt and navy coat. Frederick Alsop, Jr. is in the middle wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and a hat, and Alice Thompson Montgomery is on right wearing a grey skirt suit and red high heels. David Montgomery, Alice Montgomery, Jewelle Hart, and Frederick Alsop, Jr. then the family kidsjoke around with one another outside and walk towards the camera at different moments.

The standard yellow Kodak 8mm film box (c) that accompanies the film has handwritten mailing addresses for processing film in Europe.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1957-1958
• Created by: Pauline Thompson Wood, American, born 1901
• Subject of: Michael Holman, American, born 1955
• Subject of: David Gaylord Montgomery, American, 1947 - 2002
• Subject of: Alice Thompson Montgomery, American, 1908 - 2000
• Subject of: Jewelle Diane Hart Alsop, American, 1931 - 1987
• Subject of: Frederick Mason Alsop Jr., American, 1931 - 2010
• 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 and cardboard
• Dimensions: Duration: 3 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film): 50 Feet
• Place depicted: San Francisco, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Domestic life
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Recreation
• Object number: 2016.31.3.7.1abc
• 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.