Scope and arrangement
The Black films collection consists of scripts, press sheets, press kits, movie stills, and posters. The scope of the collection extends from the first African American talkie, Hallelujah, to stills from movies of the early 1980s. A few of the many films for which there is information are Birth of a Nation, Coffy, Cotton Comes to Harlem, The Great White Hope, Superfly, and To Kill a Mockingbird. There are twenty-eight scripts, including Black Samson, I Passed for White, The Jesse Owens Story, The Klansman, and Roots. The press kits include a synopsis of the film (not for publication), articles and ads for local newspapers, biographies of the performers, photographic stills for display, and promotional materials. Some of the images in the kits were obviously doctored to suit the sensibilities of white audiences, while some ads have directions specifying "for Black audiences only".
The Black films collection is arranged in two series:
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1939-1984
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1915-1980
The majority of the material in this series consists of press sheets, press books, and/or press kits, materials generated by film studios and distributors to market their movies to theaters.