Oscar Micheaux
In Gregory, South Dakota, the Oscar Micheaux Festival is an eagerly anticipated annual event. This is the place where the young, enterprising Micheaux wrote, published, and distributed his first semi-autobiographical novel, The Conquest (1913). South Dakota is also the state where he filmed, The Homesteader, which was the first full-length feature film directed, written and produced by an African-American.
Micheaux went on to write, direct, produce, and distribute over forty films nationally and internationally from 1918-1931. While Micheaux died in relative obscurity in 1951, his accomplishments as a pioneer in the film industry are honored by The Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame and the Producers Guild of America; a star bears his name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His works have been resurrected in retrospectives and festivals.
Search by name in the VCU library catalog and you will find books and films by and about Micheaux including:
- Within our Gates, which attacked the racism portrayed in D.W. Griffiths, The Birth of a Nation. Find both films in Media and Reserves, JBC library 3rd. floor PN1997.A1 L5 v. 1 and PN1997 .B55 1998 respectively
- The Life and Work of Oscar Micheaux: pioneer black author and filmmaker, 1884-1951. E-book PN1998.3.M494 Y68 2002eb
- Oscar Micheaux & His Circle : African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era. PN1998.3.M494 O83 2001
--Serena Haroian,Collection Management Librarian - Business and Public Affairs.