A look at Helen’s life.
About Helen
Early Life
Helen Lucille Stein Johnson was born in 1889 in Clay Center, Nebraska, to parents Herman Stein and Jennie Shane Stein.
Jennie Shane Stein was a housekeeper from Iowa.
Herman Stein was a County Clerk and a McCormick farm implement salesman. Later, he and his brother, Edmund, opened the Stein Brothers' Store in Hastings, Nebraska.
Herman valued education, and Helen flourished.
She graduated from Milwaukee-Downer College in 1911 and later from Northwestern University in 1914.
As a student, Helen was a member of her college's Kodak club.
Family Life and Home Movies
Helen married Arthur L. Johnson in 1916, at the age of 27.
She had two children: Anna Dagny Johnson, born in 1917, and Arthur L. Johnson Jr., born in 1920.
Helen bought her motion camera, a Cine-Kodak Model B, in 1925.
With it, she filmed home movies, documenting her children's childhood and more.
Helen's films feature locations across 6 U.S. states.
Fun Facts
Helen lived an interesting and joyful life.
She rode horses and once rode in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.
She also learned to drive a car in 1911, at age of 22.
Later, Helen's daughter would drive a family car purchased by Martha Johnson in 1924.
The car remains in the Johnson family's care to this day.