[vimeo id=”145993789″]
EASTER AND FUNERAL, 1963
Hubert M. James, 1963, 8mm, color, silent, 3:51
Location: Flowery Branch, Georgia
Shown at Home Movie Day Cleveland, GA
Film scan by Movette Film Transfer
Film courtesy of Bonita James Roberts
Copyright Bonita James Roberts
Thanks to: Bonita James Roberts, Ruta Abolins
About the Film
“To the best of my knowledge my father, Hubert M. James, shot the film. He is still living today in his own home at the age of 88.
The two locations of the film: 1) Mitchell Street, Flowery Branch, Georgia – my childhood home. 2) Cemetery at Zion Hill Baptist Church, located on Hwy 23 between Oakwood and Flowery Branch, Georgia.
The funeral is for John A. Reed – my uncle on my Mother’s side. He was a WWII veteran and was killed in an automobile accident on May 6, 1963 near Gainesville, Georgia.
The children in the first section of the film are my older sister Deborah Lee James, myself – Bonita James Roberts, and my younger brother, Dennis James. This scene was shot at Easter in the front yard of our childhood home on Mitchell Street in Flowery Branch, GA. At the time of this filming at Easter, 1963 our ages would have been 11, 9, and 5 respectively. My mother, Oma Lee Reed James, was and still is (at the age of 85) an excellent seamstress and both my sister’s and my Easter dresses and my brother’s white jacket were sewn by her. This footage is especially valuable to my family because my brother was killed in an automobile accident in 1975 at the age of 17.
The funeral footage shows again a shot of my brother, Dennis James at the age of 5.
The two adults are John R. Reed and Ida Clark Reed – my maternal grandparents. This film was shot at the graveside of their only son, John A. Reed, in May, 1963.”
– Bonita James Roberts, February 2016