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This is Our Home, It Is Not For Sale Film Collection

 Collection
Identifier: 2010-020

The This is Our Home, It Is Not for Sale Film Collection contains records covering the full scope of the production of a documentary film. Records cover fundraising activities, releases and contracts, insurance, research materials, production notes and logs, film screenings and festivals, photographs, and posters.

The documentary film is available for viewing on DVD in UH Libraries Special Collections and for purchase at http://thisisourhomeitisnotforsale.com.

Dates

  • 1925-2011
  • Majority of material found within 1985-1988

Creator

Language of Materials

English

Conditions Governing Access:

Open for research.

Conditions Governing Use:

Special Collections owns the physical items in our collections, but copyright normally belongs to the creator of the materials or their heirs. The researcher has full responsibility for determining copyright status, obtaining permission to publish from copyright holders, and abiding by current copyright laws when publishing or displaying copies of Special Collections material in print or electronic form. For more information, consult the appropriate librarian. Reproduction decisions will be made by Special Collections staff on a case-by-case basis.

Extent

4.00 linear feet

112 open reel audiotapes

Biographical Information:

This is Our Home, It Is Not for Sale is a documentary film produced by Jon Schwartz.

Jon Schwartz grew up in a neighborhood contiguous to Riverside, and produced his three-hour documentary as something of a paean to the beauty and complexity of Riverside as it was and as it evolved. Schwartz earned a degree in film and moved to the West Coast, but he found the inspiration for his film project in a 1983 photography exhibit at the Houston Public Library. Schwartz's research for the film included 300 preliminary interviews plus magazine articles and academic papers on Houston. Schwartz was remarkably successful in raising funds to produce his film, engaging the interest not only of funding organizations but also former and current residents of Riverside.

Schwartz's film traces the history of Houston's Riverside neighborhood from land grant to inner city neighborhood. Boundaries of Riverside are defined in the film as Alabama Street on the north, University of Houston on the east, Old Spanish Trail on the south, and Almeda Road on the west. Schwartz tells the story of Riverside through interviews, photos, and home movies. Informally known as the Jewish River Oaks, Riverside became an idyllic neighborhood close to downtown. Riverside was an all-white neighborhood until 1952 when the first black family moved in; white flight followed. Real estate agents working house-to-house encouraged owners to sell, but many residents resisted the inclination to move and posted yard signs stating "This is Our Home, It's Not for Sale." Transformation became inevitable for a constellation of reasons. Intrusions into the neighborhood included Highway 288 and the Harris County Psychiatric Center. By the conclusion of the time period covered in the film (mid-1980s), Riverside was a multi-ethnic neighborhood, combining characteristics of a peaceful wooded residential area with the conflicts of an integrated urban neighborhood.

Separated Materials:

This Is Our Home, It Is Not For Sale DVD (http://library.uh.edu/record=b3877445~S11)

Title
This is Our Home, It Is Not For Sale Film Collection
Author
Pedro Martinez, David Brown, Tai Luong
Date
2012-08-28
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the University of Houston Libraries Special Collections Repository

Contact:
University of Houston Libraries Special Collections
MD Anderson Library
4333 University Drive
Houston TX 77204-2000 USA
713-743-9750