Recording Our lives is an act of love: How two decades of collecting Chicagoans' home movies is bringing our city together
Luncheon tickets for Jacqueline Stewart go on sale Friday, January 9th! Click below to register.
$65 Nonmember* | $55 Member* | $650 Table* (10 seats) | All tickets include three course meal + presentation (*additional processing fee added on at checkout)
Online reservations close Tuesday, February 3rd, 2026 @ 5pm. For any questions or reservations after January 6th, please call Judy Murphy at 312-466-9610
Interested in Becoming a Member of First Friday? Click HERE to learn more!
Recording Our lives is an act of love …
Twenty years ago, Jacqueline Stewart founded the South Side Home Movie Project, a living testament to the resilience, creativity, and everyday beauty of the South Side in the 1950s and '60s. The scenes of graduations, birthdays, and moments of community togetherness and pride prove to all Chicagoans that what we share is greater than what divides us. Stewart points out that home movies were the forerunner to today's video selfies, which young people take for granted given the pervasiveness of social media. The Home Movie Project, however, shows that people have always had the desire to document their lives, their milestones, their communities--what they are proudest of.
Jacqueline Stewart, a Chicago native, author, film scholar and cinema preservationist, recieved a BA in history from Stanford and a PhD in english from the University of Chicago. Her disertation on race and silent cinema in the 1920's would ultimately lay the groundwork to further her interest in film, preservation and love of teaching. Her academic career includes time at Northwestern University as assistant professor in Radio/Television/Film and African American Studies and is currently a professor at the University of Chicago's department of Cinema and Media Studies. Jacqueline has also authored several books including Migrating to the Movies: Cinema and Black Urban Modernity and LA Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema. Her writing has explored overlooked black filmmakers and the role of movie houses in African American communities.
As chair of the National Film Preservation Board and former director and president of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, Ms. Stewart has been able to continue her efforts in film preservation. She is also the current host of “Silent Sunday Nights” on the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) network. Her role at TCM has enriched the conversation on overlooked film makers and movies from the past. Finally, Jacqueline is the recipient of numerous honors including a 2021 MacArthur Fellowship, and induction into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2018.
Don’t Forget About Parking!