Ruth Storm

Item Data

  • Collection Title: Ruth Storm Collection
  • Item Title: Greater New York, 1937-1941
  • ID Number: RS-006
  • Date Range: 1937-1941
  • Description: Storm took full advantage of the roads & bridges built by Robert Moses that appear in this reel. She had a summer place upstate and friends & family as well, and she also managed to film the 1937 Chinese Boycott March.
  • Biographical/Historical Note: Storm's footage of frozen schooners is very reminiscent of her friend Berenice Abbott's photos, e.g., "Theoline, Pier 11, East River, Manhattan" The George Washington Bridge, opened in October 1931 as the "Hudson River Bridge." Ruth's apartment on Valentine Lane in Yonkers was about 5 minutes from the bridge and, in a different direction, across Van Cortland Park, from Evander Childs High School where she taught. The Palisades, a route Ruth would have driven to visit Mabel in New City & possibly to her cabin upstate. On November 7, 1937, 2000 Chinese Americans marched Mott and Pell Streets in New York City to draw attention to the Japanese invasion of their homeland & raise money to defend China. Supporters threw money on a large Chinese nationalist flag (the mammoth fuschia fabric shown in the footage). Four delays later came the Massacre of Nanking. The march became the model for huge marches to follow all over the United States.
  • Genres: Amateur Films
  • Places: New York; Robert Moses; Bear Mountain Bridge; Palisades; New Jersey
  • Access & Use: Contact Lesbian Home Movie Project (LHMP) info@lesbianhomemovieproject.org. No re-use without permission.
  • Color or B&W: Color
  • Related Versions:
  • Running Time: 15:53
  • Rights: Lesbian Home Movie Project (LHMP) holds all rights.
  • Sound: Silent
  • Subjects: Lesbians
  • Creators: Ruth Huntington Storm (1888-1981)
  • Collaborators & Participants: Almeda "Meda" Benoit
  • Source Format: 16mm
  • Format: 16mm
  • Viewing Log: Downtown New York City. Winter scene on the river. Tugboats. Possibly Storm's mother walking in black coat on the pier. Decorated Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. George Washington Bridge. Cliffs. The Palisade. Country scene, possibly upstate relatives. Man, woman, and dog on front steps of a house. NY vistas. Car driving up the road. Bear Mountain Bridge. Outdoor marker, Arthur Avenue, the Bronx. A store. "Sue's," with sign for Dr. Arthur Sullo on second floor. (Dr. Arthur Sullo was born in 1893 & lived on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. Ruth's apartment on Valentine Lane in Yonkers was about 5 minutes from the bridge and, in a different direction, across Van Cortland Park, from Evander Childs High School where she taught. Boy scouts lead Chinatown boycott march. Dedication to Almeda "Meda" Benoit.