By Ismaa Viqar

As part of Rowan University’s celebration of Black History Month, Richard Grupenhoff, a professor of the radio/television/film department, held a lecture on African American film history with an emphasis on film from 1915 to the 1950s.

Grupenhoff concentrated mainly on two points: the image of blacks in film – what they seem to look like and how they were presented – and the initiatives that blacks took to start making their own films to justify their place in society.

“Before 1915, blacks didn’t make movies. They were only depicted in some movies and the earliest example we have is from 1895, from Edison’s early [films called] ‘Actualizations,’ which were basically very short, one or two minute documentary kind of films,” said Grupenhoff.

In these “Actualizations,” the image of blacks were of laborers carrying items aboard a ship in the West Indies. By that time, Edison had cameramen working throughout the country, including the Caribbean where he picked up these “Actualizations.”

Shortly after came narrative pictures, which were films with a basic story structure. In these early narratives, the images of blacks were negative stereotypes.

“Somebody to laugh at, somebody to hold power over, because that’s basically what the issue of racism is all about… certain people have power over other people and they can abuse their power and then hurt those other people either physically or emotionally,” said Grupenhoff.

This was the natural attitude of whites versus blacks in America at the time, explained Grupenhoff. Blacks were always second class citizens, marginalized from society and kept from getting the same rights that whites had.

Grupenhoff explained that the first film that had blacks in it, in terms of being part of the story, was “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in 1903. But even then the main character, Uncle Tom, was a white man in blackface because blacks were not allowed to play any kind of lead role in movies.

It wasn’t until about 1915, with another remake of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” that a black actor played the lead role of Uncle Tom. It was also in 1915 that one of the most important films ever to be made in American film history, “The Birth of a Nation,” was released.

After the Civil War, said Grupenhoff, blacks started gaining positions in Congress and other areas that whites couldn’t accept in the south and consequently, the Ku Klux Klan was formed.

“In ‘The Birth of a Nation‘, you see the images of blacks as subservient, ignorant, funloving, lazy, subhuman, fools, pickaninnies. All of these were demeaning stereotypes,” said Grupenhoff.

Some members of the audience at the lecture had never learned much about African-Americans in film before and were surprised by both the information presented and how well Grupenhoff knew the information.

“I’ve never really studied black films before so I liked how in depth he was,” said Mike Mergner,  a senior art education major. “He knows his information.”

The film had both positive and negative effects on the public. On one hand, it had negative images of blacks. On the other, it was an artistic triumph that introduced many of the cinematic techniques that we still use today.

Instead of worrying about censoring the film, blacks started to make their own films. Oscar Micheaux was the most influential black filmmaker ever, said Grupenhoff. He was the only black director whose work spanned from silent to sound films. He would produce, direct, write, film, edit and distribute his own films. Micheaux made a total of 30 silent films and 10 sound films.

“Oscar Micheaux is a name you’ve probably have never heard of and not many people have heard of. And again, part of the reason is because this history was all marginalized. White critics didn’t go see see these movies. They didn’t want to,” said Grupenhoff.

As a result, there aren’t very many reviews or artifacts from these movies or even stories about the black enterprise who tried to make the movies.

Chris Engel, a junior radio/television/film major said he liked the way the lecture spanned from the the late 19 Century to the present, including Spike Lee.

“I never really knew about any of the black filmmakers and how they really paved the way for what we now see today and how revolutionary the works affected the whole industry,” said Engel.

Another famous figure of the time was the actor, Lorenzo Tucker, who was known as “The Black Valentino.” Tucker was born in Philadelphia in 1907 and died in Hollywood in 1986.

In 1984 and 85, Grupenhoff was teaching Documentary Filmmaking at Rowan University. He heard of a group of black men in Philadelphia who would ride horses like cowboys one Saturday each month. Grupenhoff thought it would be a great concept to make into a film. After the students made a three to eight minute documentary, he wanted to turn it into a movie after realizing that 20 percent of cowboys after the Civil War were black.

Looking up cowboys in a book, a picture of Lorenzo Tucker passed his eye. After finding a large biography on Tucker, he wondered if he was still alive. Calling 411, Grupenhoff found out Tucker was living in Los Angeles. Grupenhoff called. Tucker answered.

“From February 1984 to August 1986, I was with him on and off, writing his biography,” said Grupenhoff.

Grupenhoff vividly recounted being with Tucker when he died. Grupenhoff went to visit Tucker in the hospital. He had lost a substantial amount of weight and was near death. By this time, the two had a very close relationship.

One of the last things Tucker spoke to Grupenhoff about was the Tree of Hope, which was a huge tree that stood outside the big Lafayette Theatre in Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s from which agents would cast people under the tree.

“Tucker asked, ‘Did you go to to the Tree of Hope today?’ He was worried about his next job,” said Grupenhoff.

Grupenhoff briefly brushed past the middle period after World War II, when integration started affecting America. It was at this time that the NAACP was trying to integrate blacks into movies, such as Sidney Poitier and Harry Bellafonte. It was in 1947 that President  Harry S. Truman integrated the armed forces. Grupenhoff briefly explained the 1970s as a rise of “blacksploitation” films which began with Melvin Van Peeble’s “Sweet Sweetbacks’ Baadasssss Song” where Hollywood saw how much the film was making and decided to make money off of it by creating more black films. The contemporary period of film was discussed briefly with a mention of one of Spike Lee’s early films, “She’s Gotta Have It.”