Rev. S.S. Jones Home Movies: Reel 7

Rev. Solomon Sir Jones was a Baptist minister, businessman, and amateur filmmaker. This collection of home movies by Jones documents African American communities in Oklahoma between 1924 and 1928, depicting residents at work and in their homes, as well as activities at local schools, businesses, and churches. Community social events such as parades and funerals are prominently featured.

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

The film begins with footage from a gas station. The camera pans around the intersection in a commercial district with cars passing by in front of the camera. The next scene shows a man and a woman come out of a house and get into a car. Then the man and woman are seen in a field with cows. Then there is footage of two men in a cotton field. The woman is shown feeding chickens. The exteriors of two buildings are shown, and one of them is possibly the Grand Lodge of the Knights and Pythias. The next scene returns to the farm and a man working with horses and a woman taking care of some plants on the porch. Then a group of people walk out of the house and to a car in the front yard. At another house, a woman feeds the chickens and the camera shows a portrait of the family on the porch before they walk past the camera. Ducks walk around in the front yard. The footage shows people walking around in the yard. The next scene shows women exiting a building. After the women exit, men exit through the same door. There are also some children. The next scene appears to show those same people standing in a line as the camera pans and shows the group. There is a quick scene of children playing followed by young adult men and women walking down the steps after exiting the front door of a building. After a group of adults, possibly teachers, poses on the front steps and walks down, a large group of children walk out of the door and down the stairs. Following the children are more young adults.

The next scene shows some of the students in the front of the school performing choreographed exercises and dances. The next scene is in a rural area with a building and an oil derrick. In the next scene, a man walks out of his house and is handed stacks of paper, perhaps money. The next scene shows four people standing on the front porch of a house before they walk down the front stairs. There are some other residential street scenes, and then footage of activity at a gas station. The next scene shows adults and children on the front porch of a house, and then the footage shows the exterior of the Eaglewing Hotel. The next scene shows the window sign for the State of Oklahoma Knights of Pythias Grand Lodge. The camera pans the exterior of the building, and a man comes out of a door and walks down the stairs to the sidewalk. The next footage shows a house and then a storefront. The next scene shows men working on a car, and then there is another scene at a gas station.

The camera shows a Use Magnolia Gasoline and Magnolene Motor Oils and Greases advertisement painted on the side of the gas station building. The next scene shows a large house with a little girl playing outside. Then a man comes up to the porch and three women come out from inside. The next scene shows a farm and a woman feeding chickens. There is also footage of horses pulling equipment. The next scene shows a building with a long staircase and people coming outside to pose for a large group portrait. The footage includes the photographer setting up the camera. The crowd begins waving their hands and hats in the air as the film ends.