The Pioneers of Race Films
Who Were They?
Noble and George Johnson
Founders of the Lincoln Motion Pictures 1916-1921
The Lincoln Motion Pictures studio was in Omaha, Nebraska and is known as the first African American company to produce race films. Lincoln’s first picture was The Realization of a Negro’s Ambition (1916). Although the Johnson brothers only produced five films, they were instrumental in promoting independent films that showcased Black talent in uplifting ways.
Oscar Micheaux
Micheaux Film & Book Company 1919-1940
Micheaux started off as a novelist. When he could not find anyone to produce his movies, he did it on his own. He traveled from state to state distributing his movies out of the trunk of his car. The Homesteader would become the first feature length Race Movie and Oscar Micheaux would go on to write, direct, produce and distribute more than 44 films over the next three decades. Less than a dozen survive. The Veiled Aristocrats (1932), a lost film, was discovered in a Tennessee garage in 1992.
“Oscar Micheaux ,” Virginia Changemakers, accessed May 10, 2021, https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/changemakers/items/show/43.
Spencer Williams Jr.
Amergo Films
Williams is most known for his part on the hit tv show AMOS and ANDY, but he also directed films for African American audiences. He wrote and was featured in a number of westerns starring Herb Jeffries, including “Bronze Buckaroo” and “Harlem on the Prairie.”His most successful film, The Blood of Jesus, was considered a lost film until it was discovered in a warehouse in 1980. The Blood of Jesus became the first race film to be inducted into the U.S National Film Registry.
Spencer Williams as "Andy," Carmel Theater, June 28, 1951
Image Courtesy of Bettmann-Corbis
Richard Norman
Norman Silent Film Manufacturing
Norman Films created movies for African Americans during the silent film era. His films showed African Americans in a positive light, contrary to mainstream silent films at the time. African American pilot Bessie Coleman wrote to Norman studios wishing for a movie based on her life. The Flying Ace was dubbed "the greatest airplane thriller ever filmed." It was filmed completely on the ground.
Richard Norman 1891-1960 Photo Courtesy of the Norman Studios Museum
William Foster A.K.A Juli Jones
Founder of Foster Photoplay Company 1910-1913
Foster was one of the first to start a production company during the silent film era. Laying the groundwork for the modern black film industry. He was the first African American to found a film production company, establishing the Foster Photoplay Company in Chicago in 1910. William Foster, released what is thought to be the first all-black picture, The Railroad Porter, in June of 1913. Foster's short films were mainly slapstick comedies, a popular genera during the Silent Film era.
William Foster - Foster Photoplay Company.jpg Created: 18 September 2012 Courtesy of Wikipedia
Zora Neale Hurston
1925–1950
Considered the first African-American woman film maker, Hurston was a well known figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Her contributions include Children’s Games (1928), Logging (1928), and Baptism (1929). In addition to being a director, she was also a powerful playwright, screen writer, and anthropologist.
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Zora Neale Hurston, 1927. Courtesy of Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
