Oscar Micheax Archives - Harlem Film Institute

Mr. Oscar Micheaux’s early personal history is somewhat unknown. He was reported to be born in or near Metropolis, Illinois, on January 2, 1884, to Belle and Calvin Michaux (the original spelling of Micheaux’s last name). At the age of 17, Micheaux moved to Chicago where he worked as a Pullman porter before moving to South Dakota, where he purchased land to farm and write. He used his life experiences during the time as the material to write and self-publish his first book, The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Pioneer.

After financial hardship, Micheaux moved to Sioux City Iowa and established his own publishing entity, the Western Book Supply Company where he released a sequel to The Conquest, called The Homesteader and his third novel, The Forged Note. He sold these books as a door-to-door salesman in small towns and to white business owners and community members. The Homesteader became the first full-length feature produced by an African American filmmaker. To do so he converted his publishing organization to the Micheaux Film and Book Company, selling stock to raise money for the production.

He continued to make films for the next three decades, as he is thought to have written, produced and directed more than 40 films. Micheaux provided a platform form black actors as a reaction to a both segregated Hollywood industry and society. These movies served as both a challenge to racial segregation and an alternative outlet for black moviegoers of the time. During a promotional tour, on March 25, 1951, Mr. Micheaux passed in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was laid to rest at the Great Bend Cemetery in Kansas with a headstone inscription that reads, “A Man Ahead of His Time.” Mr. Micheaux posthumously received the Golden Jubilee Special Director’s Award and a star on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame. He has truly paved the way for the number of Black STEAMers to follow.