Oscar Micheaux (1884-1951) 1893-1951

K-90

Oscar Micheaux, renowned leading creator of African American “race films” between 1919 and 1948, produced up to six full-length films in Roanoke between 1922 and 1925. The Strand Theatre housed the Micheaux Film Corporation from 1923 to 1925, while Micheaux lodged across the street at the Hampton Hotel, now the Dumas. Many of Roanoke's black professionals bought stock in Micheaux’s corporation and five served on its board of directors including Alfred F. Brooks, who built the Strand. Famous civil rights attorney Oliver W. Hill, Sr., then a student boarding in Roanoke, had a walk-on part in one film.

Department of Historic Resources, 2007

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Barnett , Edward W., A.I.A., a Roanoke architect with Rodriguez, Ripley, Mattox, and Motley, has compiled extensive research on Oscar Micheaux in Roanoke and has generously shared his significant findings. Blanton , Alison of Hill Studio in Roanoke prepared the Gainsboro Historic District nomination, which includes the Strand Theatre as a contributing building. Mattos , Naomi, a National Park Service intern at the Roanoke Regional Preservation Office in 2005, prepared a paper on residential segregation ordinances in Roanoke from 1910 to 1917. Her research includes detailed information on the Pentecost at 401 Gilmer Avenue and on Dr. J. H. Roberts at 411 Gilmer Avenue. Dr. Roberts’s daughters, Alice and Margaret Roberts, offered Edward Barnett the opportunity to review Oscar Micheaux’s 1921 letter to their father and the receipt Dr. Roberts received for $100 of Micheaux Film Corporation stock. Kern, John. Oscar Micheaux, “Race” Films, and Roanoke’s Strand Theater. Notes on Virginia, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Number 50, 2006.