Kubicek Family Collection
When donated to CFA, this collection was accompanied by detailed notes describing the people and places in the films. These notes are uncommonly personal, detailed and are very welcome as part of the collection. They provide a richness and context to the films and to the family seen in them. The films and paper documents in this collection will be invaluable as genealogical traces to coming generations of the Kubicek family.
These 8mm home movies document the Kubicek family of Dearborn, Michigan from 1965 to the mid 1970s. The first three reels (thirty minutes of footage) document the short life of their son who was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of two and passed away the following year. His final and third birthday is documented within this collection.
The remaining reels capture the Kubicek's life with their two other children, and contain numerous birthdays, backyard, sledding and holiday scenes. Oscar was of Czechoslovakian heritage and belonged to a Czech organization, Sokol Cultural Center (http://www.sokoldetroit.com), in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. Oscar sent his children there for camp, and shot footage of gymnastic performances while on the campgrounds. In the 1970s, the Kubicek family joined the Ford Travel Club and toured much of Michigan, resulting in several reels of camping footage, including an eerie Halloween costume display. Other highlights of the collection include a 1970s Detroit Lions game, a first communion, a day trip to the dunes along Lake Michigan, a family visit to Oklahoma & Disney World and shots of the Hudson's building in downtown Detroit, which was demolished in 1998.
Collection Items
- 1967 Joey 2 years and 2 months to 3 years - Joey and Bradley: March - Egg Hunt at Levagood Pk - around home - Easter at Belle Isle - Ed Hines Park Prince 8 weeks - 3 years old at Children’s hospital
- Vol 2: Spools 8-14
- Vol 2: Spools 15-21
- Vol 3 & 4: Spools 35-41
- Vol 3: Spools 22-27
- Vol 3: Spools 28-34
- Vol 4: Spools 42-48
- Vol 4: Spools 49-55
- Vol 4: Spools 56-60
- Vol: Spools 1-7