The Archive

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Sylvester Matthews shot these films in and around the family’s home in Detroit, MI. Donated by award-winning filmmaker Tracye Matthews, the collection features scenes of Tracye, her sister and her cousins' first years of life, the 1964 World’s Fair in New York, as well as the 1967 Detroit Rebellion. 8mm. Silent. 1960-1970. 14 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.

Len and Bev Mednick Collection

Leonard and Beverly Mednick shot these films of their family in and around their Jeffery Manor home, as well as on some national and international vacations. Collection donated by their daughter, Ellen. 1950-1962. 8mm. Silent. 26 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.

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.

Theresa (Mason) Coleman Collection

Theresa (née Mason) Coleman shot these films in and around the Dearborn Homes in Bronzeville. The films include scenes of her four daughters and extended family at parties, celebrations, and in daily life around Chicago. 8mm. Silent. 1960s-1970s. 24 films.

The Matilda Jablonski Puskiewicz Collection

Betty J. Holman Collection

Betty J. Holman shot this black and white amateur film "Dinner at Naomi's" in and around her South Shore home for a film course at Columbia College in the early 1980s. Her husband, sister, brother-in-law, and two children are cast and crew. 1980s. 16mm. Silent. 1 film.

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.

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. 1940-1975. 302 films.