- Directed by
- York, Steven
- Narrated by
- Davis, Ossie, American, 1917 - 2005
- Subject of
- Robeson, Paul, American, 1898 - 1976
- Washington, Fredi, American, 1903 - 1994
- Johnson, George
- Tucker, Lorenzo, American, 1907 - 1986
- Moses, Lucia Lynn, American, 1908 - 1984
- Owned by
- D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
- Date
- 1975
- Medium
- polyester film
- Dimensions
- Duration: 31 Minutes
- Length (Film): 1100 Feet
- Caption
- This film was a part of the Washington D.C. Public Library's circulating 16mm film collection housed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Central Library. The collection is particularly noted for the wide variety of African American and African diaspora content.
- Description
- Film clips from a documentary film with the title Black Shadows on a Silver Screen. It consists of a single reel of black-and-white 16mm polyester film with variable-area optical sound.
- The documentary explores the history of African Americans in film in the early 20th century through the use of archival footage of scenes with black actors or films made by black filmmakers. Some of the actors and films discussed include Paul Robeson in films such as Emperor Jones and others, Duke Ellington's Black and Tan Fantasy, Cab Calloway in Hi De Ho and Oscar Micheaux's The Girl from Chicago. The narrator also describes the various genres of films African Americans appeared in such as race films, westerns and biographical films, as well as the financial challenges filmmakers who produced race films eventually began experiencing.
- Place used
- Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
- Collection title
- DC Public Library Film Collection
- Classification
- Time-based Media - Moving Images
- Topic
- Actors
- Documentary films
- Film
- Race discrimination
- Race films
- Race relations
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Object number
- 2017.55.17.1a
- Restrictions & Rights
- Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




