African American History Resources at University Archives
Collections held by University Archives on this topic include posters and paper material advertising 20th century films featuring African Americans, various publications on the topic, and administrative papers of the Urban League of St. Louis.
Finding Aids by Subject: African American History
Finding aids for select collections:
- Black Film Promotional Material CollectionThe collection contains ca. 2,700 promotional items including photographic stills, programs, advertising materials, lobby cards, pressbooks, and posters, representing approximately 400 films, ranging in date from 1915 to 1980.
- Publications (African and African-American Studies)Publications from the 1990s regarding African and African-American Studies.
- Urban League of St. Louis RecordsThe collection includes material from the 1920s to 1969 including files of Executive Directors, annual reports, and files on various programs of the League.
Additional Resources
Resources for Additional Information
Check out the Olin Library Research Guides for Film and Media Studies and African & African-American Studies
Search the library catalog by KEYWORD (producer name, film title, or actor/actress name)
Or try the following SUBJECT headings:
Related Periodicals
For further sources of information on film promotion, see advertisements in African-American newspapers such as the:
- Black Camera (On-line)Black Film Center/Archive at Smith Research Center, Indiana University. Available on-line through the International Index to the Performing Arts Full Text Database (WU log-in required).
Related Books
Imaging Blackness: Race and Racial Representation in Film Poster Art by Call Number: PN1995.9.P5 I45 2007
African American Films Through 1959 by Call Number: PN1995.9 N4 R54 1998
Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies & Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films by Call Number: PN1995.9 N4 B6 1994
Women of Blaxploitation: How the Black Action Film Heroine Changed American Popular Culture by Call Number: PN1995.9.N4 S56 2006
Oscar Micheaux & His Circle by Call Number: PN1998.3.M494 O83 2001
A Separate Cinema: Fifty Years of Black-Cast Posters by Call Number: PN1995.9.P5 K57 1992
Blacks in American Films and Television by Call Number: PN1995.9.N4 B58 1989
Related Films
BaadAssss Cinema: A Bold Look at 70's Blaxploitation FilmsCall Number: PN1995.73 B28 2002ISBN: 07670496321 videodisc (56 min.) A look back to the early 1970s and the explosion of blaxploitation films, today one of American cinema's most beloved cult genres.
Black Shadows on a Silver ScreenCall Number: PN1995.73 N4 B54 1986ISBN: 1555261612Videocassette (52 min.) History of the motion pictures made by black film makers between 1915 and 1950, including scenes from these films.- I'll make me a worldCall Number: NX512.3.A35 I5 19996 videocassettes (360 min.) Six part film series by Blackside, Inc. that is a celebration of some extraordinary achievements by African-American writers, dancers, painters, actors, musicians, and other influential artists of the 20th Century.
Movies of Color: Black Southern Cinema, A Portrait of Independent African-American FilmmakingCall Number: PN1995.73 M68 2002ISBN: 07942028531 videodisc (55 min.) Black films of the 1920s through mid 1950s are shown as a mirror of the Black experience of the time. This program focuses on the works of filmmakers Spencer Williams, Oscar Micheaux, Eloyse Gist, and Clarence Muse.- Raisin in the Sun (1985)Call Number: PN1995.9.L5 R2337 19851 videocassette (128 min.) Originally released as a motion picture in 1961, based on the stage play by Lorraine Hansberry. Film of the award-winning play about a struggling black family living on Chicago's South Side and the impact of an unexpected insurance bequest.
Raisin in the Sun.Call Number: PN1995.9.L5 R2337 2000 c.2ISBN: 15699401851 videocassette (171 min.) Originally aired in 1989, based on the stage play by Lorraine Hansberry. Based in a Chicago ghetto in the mid-1950's, A raisin in the sun is the story of the Younger family. The just-widowed mother, her son and his wife, and the sister live together and cope with bigotry and hatred, as well as the strains of everyday living.- Raisin in the Sun.Call Number: PN1995.9.L5 R2337 19902 videocassettes (171 min.) Originally aired in 1989, based on the play by Lorraine Hansberry. In a Chicago ghetto in the mid-1950s, the story of the Younger family is told. The just-widowed mother, her son and his wife, and the sister live together and cope with bigotry and hatred, as well as the strains of everyday living.
- Within our GatesCall Number: PN1995.9 S5 W57 19891 videocassette (78 min.) A reproduction of a single surviving print found in Spain retitled as La Negra. The original English intertitles remain lost. The intertitles here are a translation from Spanish back into English, and thus can only approximate Micheaux's originals.
- The African American cinemaCall Number: PN1995.9.S5 L5 19932 videocassettes (159 min.) Presents early, classic silent films produced by and for African Americans. 1. Oscar Micheaux's Within our gates (1919) (79 min.) -- 2. The scar of shame (1926). Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake (1923) (80 min.)
- The origins of filmCall Number: PN1995.9.S5 O75 20003 videodiscs (564 min.) A collection of early feature and short films held by the Library of Congress's Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division that illustrate the history of film from 1900-1926. disc 1. The African American cinema I. Oscar Micheaux's Within our gates (1919) (ca. 78 min.) ; The African American cinema II. The scar of shame (1926) with early sound short Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake (1923) (ca. 79 min.) -- disc 2. Origins of American animation : 21 complete classics (1900-1921) : Krazy Kat, Bobby Bumps and more (ca. 83 min.) ; Origins of the fantasy feature ; The patchwork girl of Oz (1914) ; and, A Florida enchantment (1914) (ca. 130 min.) -- disc 3. America's first women film makers : Alice Guy-Blaché and Lois Weber (ca. 112 min.) ; Origins of the gangster film. D.W. Griffith's The narrow road (1912) ; and, Alias Jimmy Valentine (1915) (ca. 82 min.).