Entire Right Section of Balcony for Colored at 25¢ -- November 26, 2021

Evening Captial and Maryland Gazette, 15-November-1921

Oscar Micheaux was a pioneer in producing what were known as race films. 100 years ago this month, he was in Annapolis, Maryland showing his first movie, The Homesteader (the plural in the ad is wrong), which he made in 1919. It was based on his 1918 novel of the same title. "Great Colored Novelist."

Dallas Express, 26-November-1921

This ad for the Grand Central Theater in Dallas, "Sole Owner and Manager," John Harris, was preparing to show A Secret Sorrow, a race film made by Reol Productions.

Dallas Express, 26-November-1921

Meanwhile, the white-owned Majestic Theater in Dallas advertised in the African-American owned Dallas Express,  "Entire Right Section of Balcony for Colored at 25¢." Apparently they were allowed to use the elevator. How kind.

The "Afro-American Film Exhibitors Company" produced Lure of a Woman in Kansas City. I haven't found any information about their proposed second film, A Human Devil.

Moving Picture World, 12-November-1921

I was not familiar with the name Harris Dickson. A little research shows me that he was a lawyer and judge from the south. He wrote many stories about small-town life for the Saturday Evening Post. I was not entirely surprised to learn that he was prominent in the Anti-Miscegenation movement. Much of his output was what were referred to as "Colored stories." I have never read one of his stories, but I'll bet they contain the occasional stereotype.

Moving Picture World, 12-November-1921