Palmour Street
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SHOWS THE DAILY life of a NEGRO FAMILY IN GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA. ILLUSTRATES BASIC MENTAL HEALTH CONCEPTS BY SHOWING WAYS PARENTS CAN INFLUENCE THEIR CHILD'S MENTAL & EMOTIONAL GROWTH & HELP HIM FACE PROBLEMS.
"Palmour Street is in Gainesville, Georgia. The people who live on it worked hard to make this picture so that they and all of us might know more about ourselves and our children."
Story of African-American family in Georgia. Many delightful pictures of very happy children running, dancing and playing with themselves and their loving parents. Charming film.
Shots and sequences of everyday life.
Shots:
Dad shows son his flexing muscles. Family sits on porch. Sister cradles infant in her arms.
Public health clinic. Child behaving badly. Mother bathes infant in tub. Six-year old child is scared of dog barking. Child learns to pet dog. child plays by himself jumping happily on couch. child and mother shell peas together.
Mother puts children to bed. Children dance on porch.
Mother reprimands her teenage son at the dinner table, hurting his feelings badly.
Children crawl over mother happily. Woman is cooking up her laundry in a large metal tub on the stove. She stirs it with a stick.
girl sets table for family dinner. Parents fight; child react with fear and upset. Boy sucks his thumb. Baby cries.
Father plays with his baby son; Kids take shoes off dad.
little girl goes off to school. Child tries to go with mother when she goes at work.
Children play pattycake and sing rhymes. Child hides under bed from his father. Then he cries.
going to hospital; father is hurt badly. Sadness.
"Vernon [being given a bath and smiling about it] is only 9-months old. But he knows he is safe, he is warm and his mother loves him. And that's the best kind of a beginning any baby can have."
Mean old aunt:
"Get off this porch! You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. Dancing for the devil like that. You better get off this porch." "My mom don't care if we dance."
"That boy of mine got hisself into trouble again. Had me down to the jailhouse yesterday. Me a-begging the police to let him go. I was ashamed to death."
"Don't tell me you couldn't help losing your job. Because I know better. It's you and that sassy tongue of yours. "
"Lord am I tired. Ain't you got my dinner done yet? Don't you come here barking at me. I had enough worry all day. Who do you think you're talking to that way? I lean over that stuff all day, sweating my guts out and all I get is blah, blah, blah. . . .Clothes need washing; baby crying every two minutes and all you want to do is eat. Shut up! I'll bust you in the mouth."
"Spoiling one child. Being hard on the rest. When this goes on week after week Mother has problems with them all. "
African Americans (history and culture) Georgia (history and culture) Health Public health
NEGROES FAMILY LIFE CHILDREN EMOTIONAL HEALTH GEORGIA
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- Addeddate
- 2002-07-16 00:00:00
- Ccnum
- asr
- Closed captioning
- no
- Collectionid
- 14246
- Color
- B&W
- Country
- United States
- External-identifier
- urn:cid:bafybeiaxfhekefgcnkskpa7raah5jgi4qfvdb6zi5yrhtxe54edd65nana
- Fil-transport
- boost
- Identifier
- PalmourS1957
- Identifier-commp
- baga6ea4seaqpr3pho3lbkicoibm2cu4e2txru3lcdl3vq47catosjn5n6a76skq
- Numeric_id
- 822
- Proddate
- 1957
- Run time
- 22:17
- Sound
- Sd
- Type
- MovingImage
- Whisper_asr_module_version
- 20230805.01
comment
Reviews
Subject: Context is Complex
There is no room in today's politicized history books for places like the midwestern city my parents grew up in where they went to integrated public schools in the 20s. The majority of the nation was not Jim Crow and social norms were quite different than is commonly portrayed. I visited my parents old 'hood in the 60s and learned of such things, like my uncle's real-life best friend and teammate who was black and always welcome in their home--though as my mom explained, would not think to date her sisters. That's how it was then.
The most outstanding "period" film I have seen may be found on the C-Span archives (have not found it here) a Dept of Commerce film "Selling the Black Family". 1956 and it is almost hard to believe how "on point" it is, counseling businesses to treat black customers like anyone else, do not patronize or try sneaky "up sells".
It's a mostly untold truth that often citizens often "did the right thing" even in the absence of laws later passed to govern these relations. It remains a surprisingly untold story, the role of education in general and higher education in particular, how many institutions outside the South did not exlude non-whites even when there were no laws to mandate this (very few universities have seen fit to document their own admirable records though you can find some recently-published works about Harvard and Stanford).
Subject: Publication date may be incorrect.
It is a peculiar one among educational films of the 50s. There were no black families represented in almost all of them.
Subject: Amazing.
This is one of the very best films I have seen on the archive. A very unusual film in its sensible, down to earth portrayal of an African-American family in the 1950's. The father is in the home, is kind and loving to his children, the mother seems like a fun, laid back gal who is very proud of her family, and the bit where she is doing the washing and the little girls knock on her door and they all start dancing together on the front porch is just pure gold. The fact that this was made in Georgia in the fifties is also sort of astonishing. The "Negro" is depicted as being normal, decent, and loving. Its evenhandedness in a time where black people had to use separate toilets and water fountains is kind of mind boggling. I think this film is so timeless in its portrayal of human behavior that it will always be entertaining. An absolute gem.
Subject: Very Interesting Look At History. But....
Dad says: "Shut up or I'll bust you in the mouth."
WOW
I'm sorry. I think it's incredibly sad that this was portrayed as a normal way that a "good man" would speak to his wife when he's having a bad day. Violence towards women is not acceptable. Ever.
Subject: Descendant of Palmour Street residents writes about film
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/1/1/679219/-The-View-From-Palmour-Street
Subject: More realistic than most
I agree with History Teacher's Assessment of this film completely.
Subject: A Snapshot of Everyday Life...
In the meantime, most people lived pretty ordinary and decent lives, and this film poitrays this in a southern and African-American context very nicely. The kids instanly recongnise the community and culture they see (the town I teach in is not all that far in size or distance from Gainsville, GA). The kids seem to appreciate a black family that is poitraied as being so very NORMAL. Not perfect, but very real, and pretty healthy and well-funcitoning, and very NORMAL...
Subject: The Other Side of the 50s
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.
Subject: "HEY YOU KIDS! GET OFF THE PORCH!"
Subject: Stilted Effort nonetheless rings somewhat true
The elemenyd are believable to me: the humble surroundings; the proud father; the self-righteous aunt; the mother who also works; and the dramatizations of how different women treat children differently. I grew up in a Black neighborhood in a midwestern city in the late 40s and during the 50s so the film brought up many nostalgic feelings.
It might seem too Ozzie and Harriet for some viewers, but I love seeing images like this. A lot of life in all-Black neighborhoods was and is just this simple.
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