Rev. S.S. Jones Home Movies: Reel 1

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 first in a collection of nine films and consists of a single reel of silent 16mm black-and-white acetate film.

This film begins with congregants exiting down the front steps of a church and walking by the camera. They are all dressed in semi-formal attire with some wearing hats. After showing a close-up of some of the congregants, the footage shows the front of a grocery and cafe. There are children and adults standing in front of the store. A woman in a waitress uniform comes out of the store, turns in front of the camera and walks back inside. The next footage shows the front of the Douglass School, possibly in Oklahoma City. The camera pans around to show adults and children in the front of the school, parked cars, and other nearby buildings. The next scene shows children in front of a different building, possibly another school, lined up in rows with many holding books. They begin walking in formation passing in front of the camera. After showing some adults standing in front of the building, the footage then shows children playing on a playground.

The next scene shows the children climbing into automobiles with long rear seating areas and driving down a hill away from the building and passing in front of the camera. The next scene shows agricultural work with scenes of men performing various tasks. They work with trucks and mechanized equipment to bag the crops and transport them. The next scene shows women and children working in a field and a man riding a plow pulled by a horse. There is footage of a family walking out of a farmhouse, probably the same family from the previous footage in the field. The next scene shows a swimming pool followed by a panning shot of a residential neighborhood with single family homes. Some of the residents walk in and out of their homes so that they can be filmed. There is footage of a man in a commercial area with a sign that reads "Yukon's Best Flour," although the footage is probably not from the town of Yukon, Oklahoma.

The next shot shows the front of the Mosaic Temple of America building. There is a brief shot of a storefront window before more footage of single family homes in a residential neighborhood. There are more shots of residents on their porches, both adults and children. The footage again shows the commercial area including a billboard advertising Camel cigarettes. There is more footage of people leaving the front door of a building followed by another scene of agricultural work with a team of horses pulling a plow and men working. Following that, there is a brief shot of a man standing next to a horse and buggy. The next scene shows a man and woman outside of a house under construction that appears to be close to completion. The camera then shows more homes and a brief street scene of two men grappling for the camera.