Rev. S.S. Jones Home Movies: Reel 5: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A home movie featuring footage taken in Oklahoma during the middle and late 1920s by Solomon Sir Jones. It is the fifth in a collection of nine films and consists of a single reel of silent 16mm black-and-white acetate film.

The film begins with a man and a woman walking up the front porch of a house. The next scene shows the exterior of a house, probably the same one shown at the beginning of the film. The next shows men and women walking out of the door of a building, probably a church, and down the stairs. Many of the men and women are wearing hats. Two men stand on either side of the doorway while the people walk by. This footage continues for about four minutes. A title sign with Deacon and Mrs. M. C. Brown's First Farm Home appears in the next scene, and then the footage shows the Browns and various buildings and their fields. The next title sign reads At Their Daily Occupation. The footage shows horses pulling a man, probably Deacon Brown, on a plow, then a woman, probably Mrs. Brown, coming out to give the man something to drink. There is some brief footage of a group of children.

The next title sign reads Their Second Farm Home. A man comes out to feed the horses, and there are also chickens in the footage. Chickens are being fed in front of the house in the next scene. Another title sign reads Their First Oil Well 2,000 Barrels Daily. A man and two women walk beneath an oil derrick. The footage shows a field with other oil derricks at various places on the landscape. A man holds another title sign that reads Their Second Oil Well 3,000 Barrels Daily. The footage shows the oil derrick then many others on the landscape along with houses. The next scene shows several people get into a car and drive away from the camera. Another title sign reads The Public School On Mr. & Mrs. Brown's Farm Near Okmulgee, Oklahoma. The footage shows children in front of a school building. The next title sign reads Their Present Home 908 E. 3rd St. Okmulgee, Oklahoma. The footage shows a car drive up to the house and the Jones get out and walk up to the front door.

The next title sign reads Dunbar High School In Action Prof. W. H. Fort Principal Okmulgee, Oklahoma. Children of various ages are shown dancing and playing in the schoolyard. Another scene shows boys and then girls doing calisthenics. The next scenes shows girls playing basketball followed by boys playing football. Girls are shown doing calisthenics. The next scene shows men and women exiting a building, perhaps the school. The next scene shows a group of men standing in front of a brick church building, and the final scene briefly shows the exterior of a house.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1924-1928
• Directed by: Rev. S. S. Jones, American, 1869 - 1936
• Type: silent films
• Type: home movies
• Type: black-and-white films (visual works)
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film
• Dimensions: Duration: 12 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film): 350 Feet
• Place filmed: Okmulgee, Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Agriculture
• Topic: American South
• Topic: American West
• Topic: Baptist
• Topic: Business
• Topic: Children
• Topic: Communities
• Object number: 2011.79.5.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Naomi Long Madgett
• 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: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.