DOCSLIB.ORG

Black Film Institute) Novelist Toni Cade Bambara Anddocumentary Filmmaker Louis Managing Editor Massiah Discuss the Resilient Legacy Ofoscar Micheaux

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Black Film Institute) Novelist Toni Cade Bambara Anddocumentary Filmmaker Louis Managing Editor Massiah Discuss the Resilient Legacy Ofoscar Micheaux · - With Connections~ You Can GoA LongWa): Together, USAir and USAir Express have over 4,500 flights a day to more than 250 cities across the U.S. and Canada. Plus flights to Bermuda, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, London and Frankfurt. So when it's time to travel, remember the airlines that are well connected: USAir and USAir Express. For reservations and information, call your travel consultant or USAir toll-free 1(800)428-4322. •r Contents The Vaudeville Connection By ALEX ALBRIGHT The leaps from vaudeville to silentfilms to talkies were easy for white Edito Jacquie Jones actors-notso for African Americans. Guest Editors Pearl Bo ser Jane Gaines 10 Consu Iting Editor Interview: The Micheaux Legacy Tony Gittens By PEARL BOWSER (Black Film Institute) Novelist Toni Cade Bambara anddocumentary filmmaker Louis Managing Editor Massiah discuss the resilient legacy ofOscar Micheaux. Jane McKee Associate Editor/Film Critic Arthur Johnson 16 Associate Editors Pat Aufderheide The Norman Film Manufacturing Roy Campanella II Company Manthia Diawara Victoria M. Marshall By GLORIA]. GIBSON-HuDSON Mark A. Reid The personalpapers andeffects ofa white inventor andfilmmaker open a Miriam Rosen meaningfUl window on Black film history. Clyde Taylor Editorial Assistants Ellen Nutter Charlene Register 22 Sheila Smith-McKoy Crossed Over and Can't Get Black Features Art Director/Graphic Designer By CLYDE TAYLOR Davie Smith Between 1937and 1939, Black cinema went through one ofits biggest Advertising Director identity crises. 2 Sheila Reid Film Clips Founding Editor New Finds, Old David Nicholson Films: 1985-1989 28 Black Nickelodeon An Introduction Black Film Review (ISSN 0887-5723) is published four times a year by Sojourner Productions, Inc., a non-profit corporation organized and By GREGORY A. WALLER incorporated in the District of Columbia. It is co-produced with the Black During the silent era, theaters catering to Black audiences were popular Film Institute of the University of the District o(Columbia. Subscriptions are $12 per year for individuals, $24 per year for institutions. Add $10 per ccrace" enterprises. Calendar year for overseas subscriptions. Subscription requests and correspon­ Pull-out dence should be sent to PO Box 18665, Washington, DC 20036. Send all other correspondence and submissions to the above address; submissions 32 . must include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent of the publisher. The Micheaux Style Logo and contents copyright ©Sojourner Productions, Inc., and in the name of individual contributors. By]. RONALD GREEN A look at the market realities that shaped Oscar Micheaux's vision. Black Film Review welcomes submissions from writers, but we prefer that you first query with a letter. All solicited manuscripts must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. We are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. Black Film Review has signed a code of practices with the National Writers Union, 13 Astor Place, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10003. On the cover: Actress This issue of Black Film Review was produced with the assistance of Evelyn P,:,eer (1896-1932), grants from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation, featured in nine Oscar the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the National Alliance of Micheauxfilms, has the Media Arts Centers, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the John D. and Ca herine T. MacArthur Foundation. distinction ofbeing thefirst Black movie star. (Courtesy ofAnnstead-]ohnson Thi i sue of Black Film Review is a product of the Black Film Review Foundation for Theater ch' Projec and is funded in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Research.) soh a grant to the Scribe Video Center, Philadelphia, PA. RidIer Veim: 1be mOs' DNDveri~ What makes the Tyler, Texas "gold rush" on Black films all the more curious is that for n August 1983, the Southwest FilmNideo Archives at almost ten years the story of finding the cache seems to have Southern Methodist University in Dallas received a tip. drowned out the telling ofthe history ofAfrican American What appeared to be old film cans had been found in a independent filmmaking. Or so it seems to film scholars, warehouse inTyler, Texas. Within the next six months, archivists and collectors who have been quietly hunting and enterprisingTexas journalists created a story about the discovery digging and waiting-some­ times for decades-for some key of"lost" Black films that was picked up nationally and carried works to come to light. In the last few years, several separate into U.S. living rooms on "CBS Morning News" and unearthings have brought to our attention titles so significant that "Nighdine." What exactly is it in the American imagination that they produce a new chapter and suggest a revised version of sees historic Mrican American culture as buried treasure? African American film history. Each represents a different story Susan Dalton, archivist at the only 22 were produced for Black release print might have looked ofhow such cultural artifacts are National Center for Film and audiences. Actually, most ofthe like and have supplied missing forgotten and retrieved. Video Preservation, explains the 22 weren't "lost" films at all but footage to more damaged prints To put these exciting excitement: "People confuse . merely additional prints oftitles in circulation. For years, poor discoveries in perspective, historical value with monetary such as Spencer Williams's Blood and cheaply produced 16mm however, we want to remember value~" In addition, there is an ofJesus (1941) and Oscar reductions added to the the African American indepen­ alluring mythology about pre­ Micheaux's Murder in Harlem perception ofMicheaux, in dent companies that appeared 1951 nitrate film stock, which is (1935), alternately titled Lem particular, as an inept film­ and disappeared from as early as always in danger ofeither Hawkins' Confession. These are maker, an evaluation based 1905 to around 1950 from New exploding or decomposing. In films that, although not in solely on shoddy prints ofhis York to Florida, from Chicago the case ofthe Tyler, Texas commercial distribution, were sound films, an evaluation that to Omaha, Nebraska. Such a list discovery, however, it was not housed in various film archives doesn't hold up when one looks would include Peter Jones"Jones only money and history that and were known to film at an exceptionally well­ Photo Play, William A. Foster's were confused. In the retelling, historians. preserved sound title such as Foster Photo Play, George P. the historical value ofthe This is not to say that the Swing (1936) or Micheaux's and Noble Johnson's Lincoln discovery also got inflated. One Tyler, Texas discovery was not more recently discovered silent Motion Picture Company based finds on reading curator William important-it was, but as a kind fums.. in Lincoln, Nebraska, Ralph Jones' account ofhis acquisition ofstep in solving a mystery. The Cooper's Million Dollar in Black Cinema Treasures: Lost additional prints have helped andFound, that ofthe 100 short historians and archivists to come Hv Ron~r imtl.JiUle (iillnffl and feature films discovered, closer to seeing what the original ,j l\'iui 2 Black Film Review Productions and George through the lives ofperformers, the "Oscar Micheaux Society," o/the Unconquered (1920), has Randol s Premiere Productions. owners, and investors, such as with the first newsletter ofthe made the reconsideration of Recentl remembered and Madame C.]. Walker and organization to come out on the Micheaux's work and every finall acclaimed is independent Sherman Dudley, who built heels ofthis special issue. aspect ofhis career top priority. illiam exander \\Those theaters, organized the managers We have named the In the interview here with Pearl compan produced such and played a significant role in organization, dedicated to the Bowser, producer Louis features as Souls ofSin (1948), developing a support system for history and preservation ofall Messiah and novelist Toni The Fight Never Ends (1947) "race movies," films produced African American film, for Cade Bambara suggest that and The Clansman (1970) as for African American audiences. Micheaux. Still, in the larger Micheaux's work is firmly well as "Soundies" and the "AlI­ Above all, this issue ofBlack scheme offilm history, rooted in African American America" newsreels. These Film Review is dedicated to Micheaux has yet to be given his politics and the social life ofthe newsreels have been shown for honoring these independents, own place. With his life period in which he lived. His the first time in nearly five though it is our hope that the spanning exactly the same years films incorporate and grow out decades at the American issue will also encourage new as that ofRobert Flaherty ofthe African American Museum ofthe Moving Image interest in the histories ofthe (1884-1951), the "father ofthe experience, his own life, and in Astoria, New York, as part of shorter-lived local companies, documentary," as yet, mention stories in the Black press, often "From Harlem to Hollywood, such as the North State Film ofMicheaux doesn't produce the taking on the texture ofthis 1910-1948." This exhibition of Corporation in Winston-Salem, hushed tones ofdiscussion like news. In the volatile '20s, film memorabilia-posters, North Carolina, to which Alex those ofFlaherty, who was not Micheaux did not hesitate to stills, lobby cards, press Albright refers~in his article here. nearly as prolific and no criticize the duplicity ofthe books--documents the history To this end, some ofus have comparison as an entrepreneur. lynch mob, even though the ofAfrican American film begun to work together to form Actually, establishing luridness ofhis representation Micheaux's productivity in oflynching produced an the scholarly community is unwelcome reception for not the same as establishing it Within Our Gates in the few for the Black community, cities in which it played.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Social-Dilemmas.Pdf
    A'I1/. Rev. Psychol. /980. 31;/69-93 Copyright © 1980 by Annual Reviews Inc. All rights reserved SOCIAL DILEMMAS .324 Robyn M Dawes! Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION TO THE LOGIC OF SOCIAL DILEMMAS .. ... ... .................... 170 PROPOSALS FOR ELICITING COOPERATIVE BEHAVIOR.............................. 174 Changing the Payoffs.................................................................................................. 174 From Payoffs to Utilities............................................................................................ 175 Altruism........................... ........... ........ ............ ............ ............................................ 176 Conscience and norms .............. .................................................................... ............ 177 THE MATHEMATICAL STRUCTURE OF DILEMMA GAMES ... ... .................. 178 The "Take Some" Game............................................................................................ 179 The "Give Some" Game ............................................................................................ 179 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ABOUT EXPERIMENTAL N-PERSON DILEMMA GAMES .................................................................................... 182 Findings ...................................................................................................................... 183 Involvement .............................................. ............ ............ ........................
    [Show full text]
  • African American Contributions to the American Film Industry”
    Curriculum Units by Fellows of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute 1996 Volume III: Race and Representation in American Cinema In Their Own Words: African American Contributions to the American Film Industry” Curriculum Unit 96.03.14 by Gerene Freeman I believe it is safe to say that a large majority of my high school students are avid movie-goers. Most of them, if not all have a VCR in their homes. Amazingly many students are quite sagacious concerning matters pertaining to the blaxploitation films generated in the Sixties. Few, however, realize that African American involvement in film making had its inception as early as 1913. Through this curriculum unit it is my intention to provide high school students, at Cooperative High School for the Arts and Humanities, with an overview of two African American filmmakers and their contributions to film. Oscar Micheaux will be utilized as an example of African American contributions made to the silent era by African American pioneers in the film industry. Matty Rich will be used as an example of contemporary contributions. I have decided to look at Matty Rich as opposed to Spike Lee, John Singleton and/or Julie Dash for very specific reasons. First because he was so close to the age (18) many of my high school students are now when he made his first movie Straight Out of Brooklyn. Secondly, he emerged from an environment similar to that in which many of my student find themselves. Lastly, I believe he could represent for my students a reason to believe it is very possible for them to accomplish the same thing.
    [Show full text]
  • Digital Humanities
    Miriam Posner Digital Humanities Chapter 27 DIGITAL HUMANITIES Miriam Posner Digital humanities, a relative newcomer to the media scholar’s toolkit, is notoriously difficult to define. Indeed, a visitor to www.whatisdigitalhumanities.com can read a different definition with every refresh of the page. Digital humanities’ indeterminacy is partly a function of its relative youth, partly a result of institutional turf wars, and partly a symptom of real disagreement over how a digitally adept scholar should be equipped. Most digital humanities practitioners would agree that the digital humanist works at the intersection of technology and the humanities (which is to say, the loose collection of disciplines comprising literature, art history, the study of music, media studies, languages, and philosophy). But the exact nature of that work changes depending on whom one asks. This puts the commentator in the uncomfortable position of positing a definition that is also an argument. For the sake of coherence, I will hew here to the definition of digital humanities that I like best, which is, simply, the use of digital tools to explore humanities questions. This definition will not be entirely uncontroversial, particularly among media scholars, who know that the borders between criticism and practice are quite porous. Most pressingly, should we classify scholarship on new media as digital humanities? New media scholarship is vitally important. But a useful classification system needs to provide meaningful distinctions among its domains, and scholarship on new media already has a perfectly good designation, namely new media studies (as outlined in Chapter 24 in this volume). So in my view, the difference between digital humanities and scholarship about digital media is praxis: the digital humanities scholar employs and thinks deeply about digital tools as part of her argument and research methods.
    [Show full text]
  • Fort Lee Booklet
    New Jersey and the Early Motion Picture Industry by Richard Koszarski, Fort Lee Film Commission The American motion picture industry was born and raised in New Jersey. Within a generation this powerful new medium passed from the laboratories of Thomas Edison to the one-reel masterworks of D.W. Griffith to the high-tech studio town of Fort Lee with rows of corporate film factories scattered along the local trolley lines. Although a new factory town was eventually established on the West Coast, most of the American cinema’s real pioneers first paid their dues on the stages (and streets) of New Jersey. On February 25, 1888, the Photographer Eadweard Muybridge lectured on the art of motion photography at New Jersey’s Orange Music Hall. He demonstrated his Zoopraxiscope, a simple projector designed to reanimate the high-speed still photographs of human and animal subjects that had occupied him for over a decade. Two days later he visited Thomas Alva Edison at his laboratory in West Orange, and the two men discussed the possibilities of linking the Zoopraxiscope with Edison’s phonograph. Edison decided to proceed on his own and assigned direction of the project to his staff photographer, William Kennedy Laurie Dickson. In 1891 Dickson became the first man to record sequential photographic images on a strip of transparent celluloid film. Two years later, in anticipation of commercialization of the new process, he designed and built the first photographic studio intended for the production of motion pictures, essentially a tar paper shack mounted on a revolving turntable (to allow his subjects to face the direct light of the sun).
    [Show full text]
  • The Survival of American Silent Feature Films: 1912–1929 by David Pierce September 2013
    The Survival of American Silent Feature Films: 1912–1929 by David Pierce September 2013 COUNCIL ON LIBRARY AND INFORMATION RESOURCES AND THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS The Survival of American Silent Feature Films: 1912–1929 by David Pierce September 2013 Mr. Pierce has also created a da tabase of location information on the archival film holdings identified in the course of his research. See www.loc.gov/film. Commissioned for and sponsored by the National Film Preservation Board Council on Library and Information Resources and The Library of Congress Washington, D.C. The National Film Preservation Board The National Film Preservation Board was established at the Library of Congress by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, and most recently reauthorized by the U.S. Congress in 2008. Among the provisions of the law is a mandate to “undertake studies and investigations of film preservation activities as needed, including the efficacy of new technologies, and recommend solutions to- im prove these practices.” More information about the National Film Preservation Board can be found at http://www.loc.gov/film/. ISBN 978-1-932326-39-0 CLIR Publication No. 158 Copublished by: Council on Library and Information Resources The Library of Congress 1707 L Street NW, Suite 650 and 101 Independence Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20036 Washington, DC 20540 Web site at http://www.clir.org Web site at http://www.loc.gov Additional copies are available for $30 each. Orders may be placed through CLIR’s Web site. This publication is also available online at no charge at http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub158.
    [Show full text]
  • A Light in Darkness, Oscar Micheaux: Entrepreneur Intellectual Agitator Airic Hughes University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
    University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 7-2015 A Light in Darkness, Oscar Micheaux: Entrepreneur Intellectual Agitator Airic Hughes University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the African American Studies Commons, African History Commons, American Film Studies Commons, and the American Literature Commons Recommended Citation Hughes, Airic, "A Light in Darkness, Oscar Micheaux: Entrepreneur Intellectual Agitator" (2015). Theses and Dissertations. 1317. http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/1317 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. A Light in Darkness, Oscar Micheaux: Entrepreneur Intellectual Agitator A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History By Airic Hughes University of Arkansas Bachelor of Arts in History and African and African American Studies, 2011 July 2015 University of Arkansas This thesis is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council. __________________ Dr. Calvin White Thesis Director __________________ __________________ Dr. Pearl Ford Dowe Dr. James Gigantino Committee Member Committee Member Abstract: Oscar Micheaux was a luminary who served as an agent of racial uplift, with a unique message to share with the world on behalf of the culturally marginalized African Americans. He produced projects that conveyed the complexity of the true black experience with passion and creative courage. His films empowered black audiences and challenged conventional stereotypes of black culture and potential.
    [Show full text]
  • An Imaginative Film and Monumental by Its Production Values and Cinematic Brilliance in Creating a Fantasy World on Screen
    63rd NATIONAL FILM AWARDS FOR 2015 FEATURE FILMS S.No. Name of Award Name of Film Awardees Medal Citation & Cash Prize 1. BEST FEATURE BAAHUBALI Producer: SHOBU Swarna Kamal An imaginative film and FILM YARLAGADDA AND and monumental by its production ARKA values and cinematic brilliance MEDIAWORKS (P) 2,50,000/- LTD. each to in creating a fantasy world on screen. the Producer and Director : S.S Director RAJAMOULI (CASH COMPONENT TO BE SHARED) 2. INDIRA GANDHI MASAAN Producer: Swarna Kamal For his perceptive approach AWARD FOR BEST PHANTOM FILMS and to filmmaking in handling a DEBUT FILM OF A layered story of DIRECTOR Director : NEERAJ 1,25, 000/- people caught up changing GHAYWAN each to social and moral values. the Producer and Director 3. BEST POPULAR BAJRANGI Producer: SALMA Swarna Kamal Tackling an important social FILM PROVIDING BHAIJAAN KHAN, and issue in the simple heart- WHOLESOME SALMAN KHAN, warming & entertaining format. ENTERTAINMENT ROCKLINE 2,00,000/- VENKTESH each to Director : KABIR the Producer and KHAN Director 4. NARGIS DUTT NANAK SHAH Producer: Rajat Kamal and The saga on the life of the FAKIR GURBANI MEDIA AWARD FOR great spiritual master BEST FEATURE PVT. LTD. 1,50,000/- each to advocating the values of peace FILM ON and harmony. NATIONAL the Producer and INTEGRATION Director 5. BEST FILM ON NIRNAYAKAM Producer: JAIRAJ Rajat Kamal and For tackling a relevant and SOCIAL ISSUES FILMS unaddressed issue of 1,50,000/- each curtailing freedom of Director : V.K to movement for the common PRAKASH the Producer and man due to hartals and Director processions.
    [Show full text]
  • The Minstrel Legacy: African American English and the Historical Construction of “Black” Identities in Entertainment
    Africana Studies Faculty Publications Africana Studies 12-2015 The insM trel Legacy: African American English and the Historical Construction of "Black" Identities in Entertainment Jennifer Bloomquist Gettysburg College Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/afsfac Part of the African American Studies Commons, Film and Media Studies Commons, and the Linguistics Commons Share feedback about the accessibility of this item. Bloomquist, Jennifer. "The inM strel Legacy: African American English and the Historical Construction of "Black" Identities in Entertainment." Journal of African American Studies 19, no. 4 (December 2015). 410-425. This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution. Cupola permanent link: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/afsfac/22 This open access article is brought to you by The uC pola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The uC pola. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The insM trel Legacy: African American English and the Historical Construction of "Black" Identities in Entertainment Abstract Linguists have long been aware that the language scripted for "ethnic" roles in the media has been manipulated for a variety of purposes ranging from the construction of character "authenticity" to flagrant ridicule. This paper provides a brief overview of the history of African American roles in the entertainment industry from minstrel shows to present-day films. I am particularly interested in looking at the practice of distorting African American English as an historical artifact which is commonplace in the entertainment industry today.
    [Show full text]
  • George P. Johnson Negro Film Collection LSC.1042
    http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf5s2006kz No online items George P. Johnson Negro Film Collection LSC.1042 Finding aid prepared by Hilda Bohem; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé UCLA Library Special Collections Online finding aid last updated on 2020 November 2. Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library Box 951575 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575 [email protected] URL: https://www.library.ucla.edu/special-collections George P. Johnson Negro Film LSC.1042 1 Collection LSC.1042 Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections Title: George P. Johnson Negro Film collection Identifier/Call Number: LSC.1042 Physical Description: 35.5 Linear Feet(71 boxes) Date (inclusive): 1916-1977 Abstract: George Perry Johnson (1885-1977) was a writer, producer, and distributor for the Lincoln Motion Picture Company (1916-23). After the company closed, he established and ran the Pacific Coast News Bureau for the dissemination of Negro news of national importance (1923-27). He started the Negro in film collection about the time he started working for Lincoln. The collection consists of newspaper clippings, photographs, publicity material, posters, correspondence, and business records related to early Black film companies, Black films, films with Black casts, and Black musicians, sports figures and entertainers. Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page. Language of Material: English . Conditions Governing Access Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page. Portions of this collection are available on microfilm (12 reels) in UCLA Library Special Collections.
    [Show full text]
  • Archivists & Archives of Color Newsletter
    ~Archivists & Archives of Color Newsletter~ Newsletter of the Archivists and Archives of Color Roundtable Vol. 19 No. 2 Fall/Winter 2005 Message from the Co-Chair Greetings from the New Editor! By Teresa Mora By Paul Sevilla It was only a few months ago that SAA gathered in New I feel very excited to serve as the new editor of the AAC Orleans for its 69th Annual Meeting. Little did we know at newsletter. One of my goals is to bring to readers articles that the time that the area would soon be devastated by Hurricane are interesting, informative, and inspiring. With help and Katrina. Many of our AAC friends and colleagues were support from my assistant editor, Andrea, we shall ensure that affected by the hurricane that hit the gulf coast. Rebecca this newsletter continues to represent the voices of our diverse Hankins offered family shelter in Texas, and, in an article on membership. the next page, Brenda B. Square at the Amistad Research Center updates us on Tulane’s situation. We have all read I became a member of SAA in my first year as an MLIS reports of the damage, and our thoughts are with all those who student in the Department of Information Studies at UCLA. hail from the area, especially with our colleagues and the As one of the recipients of this year’s Harold T. Pinkett unique collections, which many of us had been so fortunate to Minority Student Award, I had the privilege of attending the just see. conference in New Orleans and meeting the members of AAC.
    [Show full text]
  • • Interview with Lorenzo Tucker. Remembering Dorothy Dandridge. • Vonetta Mcgee • the Blaxploitation Era • Paul Robeson •
    • Interview with Lorenzo Tucker. Remembering Dorothy Dandridge. • Vonetta McGee • The Blaxploitation Era • Paul Robeson •. m Vol. 4, No.2 Spring 1988 ,$2.50 Co-produced with the Black Film Institute of the University of the District of Columbia .,.... ~. .# • ...-. .~ , .' \ r . t .• ~ . ·'t I !JJIII JlIf8€ LA~ ~N / Ul/ll /lOr&£ LAlE 1\6fJt1~ I WIL/, ,.,Dr 8~ tATE /lfVll" I h/ILl kif /J£ tlf1E M/tl# / wlU ~t11' BE 1II~ fr4lt11 I k/Ilt- /V6f Ie tJ]1f. 1t6/tlfV _ I WILL No~ ~'% .,~. "o~ ~/~-_/~ This is the Spring 1988 issue of der which we mail the magazine, the Black Fzlm Review. You're getting it U.S. Postal Service will not forward co- ~~~~~ some time in mid 1988, which means pies, even ifyou've told them your new',: - we're almost on schedule. - address. You need to tell us as well, be- \ Thank you for keeping faith with cause the Postal Service charges us to tell us. We're going to do our best not to us where you've gone. be late. Ever again. Third: Why not buy a Black Fzlm Without your support, Black Fzlm Review T-shirt? They're only $8. They Review could not have evolved from a come in black or dark blue, with the two-page photocopied newsletter into logo in white lettering. We've got lots the glossy magazine it is today. We need of them, in small, medium, large, and your continued support. extra-large sizes. First: You can tell ifyour subscrip­ And, finally, why not make a con­ tion is about to lapse by comparing the tribution to Sojourner Productions, Inc., last line of your mailing label with the the non-profit, tax-exempt corporation issue date on the front cover.
    [Show full text]
  • Tributaries on the Name of the Journal: “Alabama’S Waterways Intersect Its Folk- Ways at Every Level
    Tributaries On the name of the journal: “Alabama’s waterways intersect its folk- ways at every level. Early settlement and cultural diffusion conformed to drainage patterns. The Coastal Plain, the Black Belt, the Foothills, and the Tennessee Valley re- main distinct traditional as well as economic regions today. The state’s cultural landscape, like its physical one, features a network of “tributaries” rather than a single dominant mainstream.” —Jim Carnes, from the Premiere Issue JournalTributaries of the Alabama Folklife Association Joey Brackner Editor 2002 Copyright 2002 by the Alabama Folklife Association. All Rights Reserved. Issue No. 5 in this Series. ISBN 0-9672672-4-2 Published for the Alabama Folklife Association by NewSouth Books, Montgomery, Alabama, with support from the Folklife Program of the Alabama State Council on the Arts. The Alabama Folklife Association c/o The Alabama Center for Traditional Culture 410 N. Hull Street Montgomery, AL 36104 Kern Jackson Al Thomas President Treasurer Joyce Cauthen Executive Director Contents Editor’s Note ................................................................................... 7 The Life and Death of Pioneer Bluesman Butler “String Beans” May: “Been Here, Made His Quick Duck, And Got Away” .......... Doug Seroff and Lynn Abbott 9 Butler County Blues ................................................... Kevin Nutt 49 Tracking Down a Legend: The “Jaybird” Coleman Story ................James Patrick Cather 62 A Life of the Blues .............................................. Willie Earl King 69 Livingston, Alabama, Blues:The Significance of Vera Ward Hall ................................. Jerrilyn McGregory 72 A Blues Photo Essay ................................................. Axel Küstner Insert A Vera Hall Discography ...... Steve Grauberger and Kevin Nutt 82 Chasing John Henry in Alabama and Mississippi: A Personal Memoir of Work in Progress .................John Garst 92 Recording Review ........................................................
    [Show full text]