[Christmas, ca. 1955]
Children open Christmas presents and play at home.
Identifier: SSHMP.2017.PITTS.00007
Collection: David D. and Margaret T. Pitts Collection
Dates: 1950s
Format: 8mm
Camera Techniques: Unknown
Subjects: Children-playing, Children, Christmas, Games
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Alsup Smith Family Collection
Vanessa Alsup and her husband Kevin shot these sound films of their children Kevin II, Sheena Marie and Carla in and around their Englewood home. The collection also includes several concerts in Chicago. Super 8mm. Sound. 1970-1980. 17 films.
Frederick Atkins Collection
Frederick Atkins shot these films of his wife, Loretta, and children in the East Side neighborhood. The collection includes the opening of the Chicago (formerly Calumet) Skyway. 8mm, Super 8mm. 1950-1980. 48 films.
Lora Branch Collection
Charles Branch shot these films of his family in Morgan Park. The collection includes family trips to Tennessee, the annual Roberts Family Picnic in the Dan Ryan Woods, and the 50th wedding anniversary of George and Mamie Roberts Thompson. This collection also features rare footage of Roberts Temple Church of Christ in God, preserved by Claude and Naomi Driskell, family relatives and descendants of Bishop William Roberts. 8mm, Super 8mm. Silent. 1930s-1985. 5 films.
Roy Herbert Branch Collection
Roy and Kathleen Branch shot these films at their home in Lake Meadows. The collection includes shots of their daughter Elizabeth and several family Christmases. Super 8mm. Sound. 1970s-1980s. 7 films.
Buford Family Collection
Shirley Jones and her sisters shot these films of the Buford family around their Englewood home. The collection features a wedding and several family parties, and also includes films shot during their time stationed in Okinawa, Japan. 8mm, Super 8mm. Silent. 1950-1970. 18 films.
Burt Ramos Family Collection
This collection includes home movies shot primarily by Louise B. Burt. They depict scenes of everyday life in Chicago, Illinois as well as family visits to Momence, Illinois, St. Louis, Missouri, and Baldwin, Michigan. 8mm. 1958-1968. 3 films.
Byrd-Forshey Family Collection
This collection consists of films of the Byrd family, depicting family gatherings and holidays. The collection also includes roadtrips, Chicago cityscapes and outdoor spaces. 16mm. 1950s. 2 films.
Alphonse and Nancie Teer Ellis Family Collection
Alphonse and Nancy Ellis shot these films in and around their Auburn Gresham home. The collection also includes a trip to Disneyland, Washington D.C. and visits to the family cottage in Lakeside, Michigan. Super 8mm. Silent. 1960-1970. 40 films.
Lynette Frazier Collection
Lynette Frazier shot these films of her life in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood of Chicago, as well as her many travels around the globe. The collection includes the aftermath of the MLK Riots, Resurrection City in Washington, DC and the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. 8mm. Silent. 1950-1960. 31 films.
Holland Family Collection
John Holland shot these films of his wife Margaret and their children Greg, Debbie, Doug and Karen in and around the East Side neighborhood. The collection includes graduations, holidays and Catholic ceremonies. 8mm, Super 8mm. 1950-1970. 47 films.
Gordon L. Hostetter Collection
Gordon L. Hostetter shot these films of his family and children in Flossmoor, Illinois. The collection features scenes of country clubs, golf, children playing in costumes. 16mm. Silent. 1920-1950. 14 films.
Jay Kavanaugh Collection
Jay Kavanaugh shot these films of his wife, D’Ann, and daughters, Tam and Palmer in and around the Hyde Park neighborhood. The collection includes scenes at Promontory Point. 16mm. Silent. 1940-1950. 5 films.
Glenna Kiner Collection
The Kiner Collection consists of one orphan reel recorded somewhere on Chicago’s North Side. If you have any information about this collection please contact us! 16mm. Silent. 1929. 1 film.
Levy-Gunansky Family Collection
Sam Levy and his daughter Harriet shot these films to document their family’s life in the Washington Park neighborhood and later the Jackson Park Highlands. It includes scenes from Englewood High School, several club picnics in Washington Park, and Harriet’s time as a student at University of Chicago (1948-1952). 8mm. Silent. 1938-1955. 15 films.
Sylvester Matthews Collection
Philip Maxwell Sr. Collection
Philip Maxwell shot these films of his family in their Londontown home. The collection also includes visits to the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Museum of Science and Industry. 8mm, Super 8mm. Silent. 1960-1970. 4 films.
Charles ‘Chuck’ Mayewaki Collection
Charles "Chuck" Mayewaki shot these films throughout the Lake Meadows, Woodlawn, and Oakwood neighborhoods. The collection includes a pilgrimage to the Rohwer Heritage Site in Arkansas, members of his congregation, and a cross country road trip. Super 8mm, 16mm. Silent. 1960-1973. 25 films.
Ellis McClelland Collection
Ellis McClelland shot these films featuring his wife and children in the Princeton Park neighborhood. Scenes include visits to many of Chicago’s Parks, Buckingham Fountain and Detroit to visit relatives. McClelland also shot footage of car races, baseball games and his North Side mechanic shop. 8mm. Silent. 1940-1950. 8 films.
Charles Merrifield Collection
Charles Merrifield was a postal worker who lived with his family in Princeton Park. His films show gatherings of extended family, as well as travels across the US with his wife and children. 8mm. Silent. 1950-1960. 6 films.
Yosh Nakazawa Collection
Yosh Nakazawa filmed his wife Yuri and their sons Paul and Jon during Christmases and birthdays at their Near North Side home. 16mm, Super-8. Silent. 1950-1960. 6 films.
Dr. Helen Nash Collection
Dr. Helen Nash shot these scenes of family life in Atlanta, Georgia and St. Louis, Missouri, as well as trips to Chicago to visit relatives. Dr. Nash also traveled extensively with her sisters and mother, visiting Europe, China, Russia, and Africa in the late sixties and seventies. 16mm, Super 8mm. Silent. 1950-1970. 23 films.
Dr. Homer Nash Jr. Collection
The younger brother of Dr. Helen Nash, Homer Nash shot these films of his five daughters growing up in their St. Louis home. 8mm. Silent. 1950-1984. 11 films.
O'Neal Family Collection
Brothers Brian, Rick II, and Kamal O’Neal shot and created these films of their teenage years in and around their Hyde Park home. The collection includes experiments in stop-motion animation, basketball games, and a family road trip to Niagara Falls and Bar Harbor, ME. 8mm, Super 8mm. Silent. 1970s. 21 films.
Nicholas Osborn Collection
Nicholas Osborn contributed this reel that he found in a thrift shop. It consists of a year in Chicago in 1963 and includes such historic events as the Bud Biliken parade, the NAACP annual convention and the 1963 Public School boycott. 8mm. Silent. 1963. 1 film.
Jean Patton Collection
The Jean Patton collection was shot by both Jean Patton and her husband Robert and documents family life in Chatham and their extensive travels overseas. Consisting of over 100 reels Jean and her husband visited China, Japan, Europe and the Caribbean and documented nearly 20 years of family celebrations and events. 16mm, 8mm, Super-8. Silent. 1940-1970. 100 films.
David D. and Margaret T. Pitts Collection
The Pitts collection consists of films filmed by Margaret Pitts around their Greater Grand Crossing and Calumet Heights home. Scenes include footage of their daughter, Linda growing up. 8mm. Silent. 1940s-1960s. 25 films.
The Matilda Jablonski Puszkiewicz Collection
Matilda Puszkiewicz (née Jablonski) shot these films of her family and surrounding Polish Catholic community in South Chicago and on several national and international vacations. The collection features footage of her children Patricia, Judith, and Jack as they grew up, as well as trips to California and Europe. 8mm. Silent. 1947-1960s. 25 films.
Dr. George Reed Jr. Collection
The Reed Collection was shot by Dr. George Reed, a physicist at Argonne Laboratories. The collection consists of family scenes featuring Reed's wife, Selina, and children, Mark, Carole, Phillip, and Lauren. Films include scenes on Chicago’s lakefront, a YWCA camp in Forest Beach Michigan and the University of Chicago lab school. The Reeds lived in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood on Calumet Avenue. 8mm. Silent. 1950-1960. 12 films.
Leroy Roberson Collection
Leroy Roberson shot this collection documenting his extensive travels across the country with his family. Often taking his children out of school early this collection includes visits to California, Wyoming, the Hoover Dam and other sites in the American West. 8mm. Silent. 1950-1960. 32 films.
Roberts Family Collection
This collection was shot primarily by Herman Roberts, his family and the staff of the Roberts Show Lounge. The films capture South Side nightlife from Englewood to Hyde Park, the Roberts Show Lounge in the '50s, rural Oklahoma, and Disneyland. 8mm, 16mm. Silent. 1950s. 34 films.
Gustina Steele Collection
Gustina Steele and her husband Bill Higgins, shot this footage of their children William Jr. and Ashauna in and around their Calumet Heights home. Super-8. Sound, silent. 1970-1980. 4 films.
James E. Taylor Collection
James Taylor and his father-in-law Prose Matthews shot and created these films of their family in and around their Harvey home. The collection includes several family picnics in Michigan City, a wedding, and their children’s birthdays. 8mm, Super 8mm. Silent. 1944-1978. 35 films.
Herman and Hazel Washington Collection
Hazel Washington shot these films of her husband Herman and their children Rachel and Zandra on a family trip to California. This collection features a trip to Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, and a safari, as well as footage of their extended family’s home near South Central, LA. 16mm. Silent. 1971. 3 films.
Ramon Williams Collection
Ramon Williams shot and created these films throughout Chicago and the American South. The collection features a number of historical figures and events, including Haile Selassie’s arrival in Chicago, Althea Gibson’s landmark US Nationals win, and several Bud Billiken parades. 8mm, 16mm. Sound, Silent. 1943-1975. 161 films.