National Museum of African American History and Culture (U.S.) Search this
Extent:
1 Video recording
Type:
Archival materials
Video recordings
Place:
U. S. Capitol
Atlantic City (N.J.)
Roanoke (Va.)
Date:
1965-1966
Footage description provided by Wilhelmina Leigh:
Scenes were filmed, 1965-1966 – 30:30 minutes … –
1. … in Washington, DC, of sightseeing (National Zoo, U.S. Capitol, U.S. Supreme Court building, and one of the Library of Congress buildings) and of the North American Blizzard of 1966;
2. … in Atlantic City;
3. … in Roanoke, VA, visiting relatives;
4. … in Boston, MA, as tourists and visiting relatives;
5. … of a meal in Leigh family house at 4215 Third Street, NW, Washington, DC;
6. … of Hampton Institute buildings and football game, Hampton, VA;
7. … of 1966 graduation at McKinley Technical High School, Washington, DC;
8. … of Cornell University buildings and scenery; and
9. … of visitors at 4215 Third Street NW, Washington, DC.
00:00 – 02:07 minutes
Frederick M. Leigh filmed scenes of a visit to the National Zoo in Washington, DC. Scenes feature Frederick M. Leigh, Velma D. Leigh, Jacqueline Leigh, and Wilhelmina Leigh, as well as animals in the National Zoo.
02:07 – 03:43 minutes
Velma D. Leigh, Jacqueline Leigh, and Wilhelmina Leigh sightsee near the U.S. Capitol, the U.S. Supreme Court building, and one of the Library of Congress buildings.
03:43 – 07:32 minutes Frederick M. Leigh shovels snow in the front and the back of the Leigh family house at 4215 Third Street, NW, Washington, DC. This snow fell as a result of the North American Blizzard of 1966, which dumped 12 inches atop 4 inches already on the ground in DC from a previous storm. Wilhelmina Leigh (in coat and scarf) comes up the stairs that Frederick M. Leigh is shoveling in the front of the house.
07:33 – 8:02 minutes Footage of buildings cannot be identified.
08:02 – 11:08 minutes Frederick M. Leigh, Velma D. Leigh, Jacqueline Leigh, and Wilhelmina Leigh were filmed in various settings in Atlantic City, NJ, and in other locales that cannot be identified.
11:08 – 14:43 minutes Scenes were filmed in Roanoke, VA, where Frederick M. and Velma D. Leigh were visiting relatives and friends – including Mrs. Elizabeth Fishburn, her daughter Susie Mae Holland, Alphonso Holland, Effie Dunnaville (mother of Velma Dunnaville Leigh), and other individuals who cannot be identified. Additional scenes feature Jacqueline Leigh and Wilhelmina Leigh playing with their second cousins, the Lewis children – Chrystella, Adrian, Gary, and Rodney.
14:43 – 17:45 minutes Frederick M. Leigh, Velma D. Leigh, Jacqueline Leigh, and Wilhelmina Leigh ("the Leigh family") were in Boston, MA, as tourists – riding the swan boats, and visiting the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on the Boston Common dedicated to the memory of Massachusetts soldiers who died in the American Civil War. Construction of the monument began in 1874, and it was dedicated on September 17, 1877. The base of the monument bears the following inscription:
TO THE MEN OF BOSTON
WHO DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY
ON LAND AND SEA IN THE WAR
WHICH KEPT THE UNION WHOLE
DESTROYED SLAVERY
AND MAINTAINED THE CONSTITUTION
THE GRATEFUL CITY
HAS BUILT THIS MONUMENT
THAT THEIR EXAMPLE MAY SPEAK
TO COMING GENERATIONS
The "Leigh family" also visited relatives in Boston, MA. They visited the service station (Lay and Hicks Flying A Station, 428 Warren Street, Roxbury, MA), then operated by James Edward Lay, brother of Frederick M. Leigh. Lay/Leigh family scenes were captured in the living room of the Lay family house at 13 Maywood Street, Roxbury, MA 02119. This footage includes John and Oelia Wood Lay; the Leigh family; James Edward Lay (brother of Frederick M. Leigh) and his wife Lillian Lay and son James Edward Lay Jr.; and LeRoi Ambers (nephew of Frederick M. Leigh and of James Edward Lay) with Carol Tabor, the girlfriend of LeRoi. (NB: John and Oelia Wood Lay were the: parents of Frederick M. Leigh and James Edward Lay, the in-laws of Velma D. Leigh, and the grandparents of Jacqueline and Wilhelmina Leigh.)
17:46 – 18:56 minutes Wilhelmina Leigh and Jacqueline Leigh posed in front of the Brunswick Inn, a Steak Pub and Manor House. I am unsure when and where this footage was taken. An "Honors House" at some college or university appears in one scene. My guess is that these scenes were taken during a college visit tour on which the Leigh family went prior to the high school graduation of Wilhelmina Leigh.
18:56 – 20:20 minutes Dinner meal at the Leigh family house at 4215 Third Street NW, Washington, DC, with: Charles Jones (boyfriend of Jacqueline Leigh), Jacqueline Leigh, Effie Dunnaville (mother of Velma D. Leigh), Frederick M. Leigh, Velma D. Leigh, and Wilhelmina Leigh (who stuck her tongue out at one point during the segment).
20:20 – 21:42 minutes Velma D. Leigh, Jacqueline Leigh and Wilhelmina Leigh posed in front of buildings at Hampton Institute (Hampton, VA), during a visit to the school when Jacqueline Leigh was a sophomore. Blank tape is interspersed with footage of Velma, Jacqueline, and Wilhelmina at Hampton.
21:42 – 23:00 minutes Scenes of a football game at Hampton Institute (Hampton, VA) were filmed. Although Hampton (white uniforms with blue helmets) is one of the teams playing, I am unable to identify their opponent. Maroon and orange (the colors worn by Hampton's opponent in this game) are the colors of Claflin University (Orangeburg, SC). However, this school's football team played its last game on November 21, 1964. (http://thetandd.com/news/panther-football-from-the-ashes-of-a-sports-program-claflin/article_5269aaa3-051d-5ed9-a6ba-638d888674c1.html) It is possible that Claflin played Hampton in 1965, but I have no way of knowing. During the half-time of this game, the Hampton Institute band (in blue uniforms with a touch of white) and cheerleaders and/or majorettes performed, and there were speakers.
23:04 – 23:12 seconds On Christmas day, Velma D. Leigh and Wilhelmina Leigh posed near the tree in the living room at the Leigh family house at 4215 Third Street, NW, Washington, DC.
23:12 – 23:40 minutes Footage taken outside McKinley Technical High School, Washington, DC, at the 1966 graduation of Wilhelmina Leigh (in white cap and gown) includes: 1. Wilhelmina Leigh walking with mother (Velma D. Leigh) and sister (Jacqueline Leigh) 2. Rita Smith (another McKinley '66 graduate) speaking to Wilhelmina Leigh 3. Frederick M. Leigh walking with daughter Wilhelmina Leigh
23:40 – 24:39 minutes John and Oelia Wood Lay walk beside their house at 13 Maywood Street, Roxbury, MA 02119, and then sit on the front steps of the house, where they are joined by Velma D. Leigh and daughter Jacqueline Leigh.
24:40 – 30:00 Frederick M. Leigh exits the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge near Cornell University and checks on his car. Velma D. Leigh, Jacqueline Leigh and Wilhelmina Leigh appear in scenes taken in and around Cornell University. One scene includes Mary Donlon Hall, the dormitory in which Wilhelmina Leigh lived during her freshman year (1966-1967) at the university. Other campus buildings in the footage include Helen Newman Gymnasium, Balch Hall, Baker Laboratory, Clara Dickson Hall, and the chapel. Jacqueline and Wilhelmina Leigh pose near Cayuga Lake. The duo also poses with their mother in front of the statue of Ezra Cornell. Several unidentified buildings at the university appear in the footage, as well.
30:00 – 30:30 minutes Velma D. Leigh, Theresa Smith (a friend of Frederick M. and Velma D. Leigh), and an unidentified man (who accompanied Ms. Smith on her visit to the Leighs) are filmed while leaving the Leigh family house at 4215 Third Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is available online for open research.
Collection Rights:
The Great Migration Home Movie Study Collection is a product of and owned by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution.
Copyright for all works are retained by the creators of the original analog materials.
The contents of the Great Migration Home Movie Project are made available to the public for the purposes of education and scholarly research. The home movies digitized through the project are not available for commercial licensing. Educational and scholarly use may be considered on an individual basis.
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts. Supported by the Center for the Digitization and Curation of African American History.
Sponsor:
This project receives support from the Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts and from the Center for the Digitization and Curation of African American History at the National Museum of African American History and Culture Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
