Explore Black History

1924-1928

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 third in a collection of nine films and consists of a single reel of silent 16mm black-and-white acetate film.
The film opens with members of the local Masonic lodge walking in a parade down the main commercial street, probably in Boley, Oklahoma. The men are well-dressed and wearing different kinds of hats. The next scene shows men and women leaving what appears to be the front door of a movie theater. They are all dressed in semi-formal clothes. A group of similarly dressed men and women are shown leaving the front door of a building in the next scene. They then pose in the front yard for a group portrait. The next scene shows the First National Bank in Boley, Oklahoma, and a title sign for the scene notes that it was the first bank organized by blacks in America. Men are shown walking out of the front door of the bank and the camera pans to show the front window with the name of the bank on it. There is also a wider shot of the entire bank building. The next title sign states that the footage shows the M.M. Mathonican General Merchandise store, also in Boley. A man and a woman walk out of the front door of the store and then back inside, presumably they are Mr. and Mrs. Mathonican. The next title sign indicates that the footage shows Reverend C. Johnson and his wife's farm and home in Boley. They walk off of the front porch and into the yard.
The next title sign notes that the footage shows the Moder Order of Pals Boy Scouts of Oklahoma City at the Boley Fair Grounds. The footage shows tents and other structures at the campground and boys dressed up in scout uniforms marching around the campground. A title sign gives the exact date of the next scene, July 8, 1925, and it is at the Boley Telephone Company owned by M. T. Hunter and his son L. C. Hunter. The footage shows a woman seated at a telephone exchange board and two other women stand beside her. There is also footage of the outside of the building. The next title sign notes the footage shows the C. L. White Hardware Company in Boley, again on July 8, 1925. Customers are shown exiting with a variety of goods from the store. The next scene shows a parade down the main commercial street with soldiers in uniform followed by boys in uniform. The footage then shows a variety of street scenes with people and a variety of vehicles. The next scene shows a parade, possibly part of the later funeral procession, down the main commercial street. The men are dressed formally and have small white aprons around their waists. Some of the men are wearing medals on their jackets or vests. As the casket is placed into a wagon, soldiers stand on either side. Then they walk in front of the wagon as it goes down a street followed by vehicles and a large number of people walking that pass in front of the camera. A streetcar is also visible in the background. There is again footage of the casket begin placed in the automobile wagon, possibly after the church service before prior to going to the cemetery.

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Rev. S.S. Jones Home Movies

Time-based Media - Moving Images

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Naomi Long Madgett

National Museum of African American History and Culture

2011.79.3.1a

silent films
black-and-white films (visual works)
16mm (photographic film size)

No Known Copyright Restrictions
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

acetate film

Duration: 14 Minutes
Length (Film): 400 Feet

Title • Rev. S.S. Jones Home Movies: Reel 3

nmaahc_2011.79.3.1a

NMAAHC

REV. S.S. JONES HOME MOVIES: REEL 3

National Museum of African American History and Culture

CC0

1920s

Boley • Okfuskee County • United States • Oklahoma • North and Central America

Communities • Religious rituals and ceremonies • Finance • Freemasons • The Black Church • Amusements • Rural life • American South • Funeral rites and ceremonies • American West • Domestic life • Associations and institutions • Business

Baptists • African Americans

City • Boley • County • Okfuskee County • State • Oklahoma • Country • United States • Continent • North and Central America

silent films • black-and-white films (visual works) • 16mm (photographic film size)

Video recordings

No Known Copyright Restrictions