Charles W. Chesnutt to William B. Pratt, 18 February 1921
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February 18, 1921.
Houghton Mifflin Company,
4 Park Street,
Boston.
Attention Mr. W. B. Pratt,
Manager Syndicate Bureau.
Dear Mr. Pratt:-
I have agreed with a Mr. Robert Levy1 of the Reol Productions Corporation, of New York City, upon the sale of the motion picture rights of "The Marrow of Tradition,"2 for the sum of $500.00.3 The amount is no larger than that which Mr. Micheaux4 has promised to pay for the rights in "The House Behind the Cedars,"5 but the terms are better, since Mr. Levy is to pay cash upon the execution of the contract.
I assumed that you would assent, and have written him conditioning the contract upon the statement being made in the advertising, and in the film itself, that the film is based on "The Marrow of Tradition" by Charles W. Chesnutt, by special arrangement with the publishers, Houghton Mifflin Company.
This concern has never yet produced a film, but has at least one picture made which it is going to bring out very soon. Like the Chicago concern, it aims to produce pictures featuring colored actors and appealing to motion picture houses especially for colored people, which are already somewhat numerous and increasing.
Of course while "The Marrow of Tradition" is out of print the advertising would be of no value to you as publishers, and would produce nothing for me in the way of royalties. However, the production of these films might produce a sufficient demand to justify the printing of at least another small edition of "The Marrow of Tradition," the publication of which was suspended, I was informed by your Mr. Greenough,6 because of war conditions, principally the cost of paper. I should like it very much if this should prove the case, since my books constitute a small body of literature, if I may call them such, which is in a sense unique.
When I have closed up with the Reol people, I will of course remit to you on the basis suggested with reference
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to "The House Behind the Cedars," namely one-third of what I get.7
Mr. Micheaux has not yet presented his contract for signature, but I will advise you when he does so and remit when he pays.8
Your very truly, CWC/KCorrespondent: William Brace Pratt (1886–1961) was a White Bostonian who graduated from Yale in 1906. He worked for Houghton Mifflin's Special Sales department from 1907 to 1929; as the manager of the syndicate bureau, he frequently correspondended with Chesnutt about the film rights to his works in the 1920s.
1. Robert Levy (1888–1959) was a producer and director in Black theater and film in the 1920s. He was the manager of the Lafayette Theater in Harlem from 1916 until 1919, and founded REOL Productions, a film company dedicated to making films for Black audiences. A White Jewish immigrant from Britain, he was at times criticized for not making space for Black leadership in his theater and films. [back]
2. The Marrow of Tradition was published by Houghton, Mifflin & Company in October 1901. The novel was a thinly veiled account of the Wilmington Massacre of 1898, a White supremacist coup that overthrew an interracial city government, targeted Black elected officials, killed between 60 and 300 Black citizens, and terrorized several thousand who fled the city and never returned. [back]
3. See Chesnutt's correspondence with Robert Levy (1888–1959) of the REOL Film Corporation in February of 1921, regarding the adaptation of The Marrow of Tradition into a film. The deal fell through later that spring and the film was never made. [back]
4. Oscar Micheaux (1884–1951) was a Black American writer and film director known for his films about race and racism. Originally from Illinois, he began his career as a novelist and later founded the Micheaux Film and Book Company (ultimately renamed Micheaux Film Corporation) in 1919. He first adapted his early novel The Homesteader to film, and directed and produced over three dozen films in the 1920s and 30s, typically writing the scripts as well as overseeing the low-budget production and distribution of the films. Several of his films were loosely based on the works of Black authors, including Chesnutt. After the demise of his company in 1940, Micheaux founded a publishing business and wrote several more novels. [back]
5. The House Behind the Cedars (Houghton Mifflin, 1900) was Chesnutt's first published novel. House evolved over more than a decade from a short story, "Rena Walden," first drafted in the late 1880s. It was the only novel by Chesnutt to be serialized, once in 1900-1901 in the monthly Self Culture and again in 1921-1922 in the Black weekly Chicago Defender. House was also his only novel to be adapted to film (1924 and 1932). [back]
6. Ferris Greenslet (1875–1959)—erroneously referenced as "Greenough" in one letter by Chesnutt—was a White writer and editor associated with Houghton Mifflin in the years after the company first published Chesnutt's works. After a stint as associate editor for the Atlantic Monthly from 1902 to 1907, he became a literary advisor and director at Houghton Mifflin (1910–1933) and later general manager of their trade department (1933–1942). [back]
7. Between January and September 1921, Oscar Micheaux negotiated with Chesnutt to pay $500 in five installments for the film rights to Chesnutt's novel The House Behind the Cedars. This was a low sum for movie rights to a novel, but Chesnutt likely took into account that Black-produced films had low budgets. Ultimately, 25% (rather than the originally suggested 33%) of the money received went to Chesnutt's publisher, Houghton Mifflin Company. Several of the payments were delayed, and Chesnutt never received the final installment. Micheaux's film adaptation was released in December 1924. [back]
8. In the postscript of a letter to Chesnutt from January 29, 1921, Oscar Micheaux requested that Chesnutt ask his publisher to prepare the contract. Chesnutt overlooked this until he received a follow-up from Swan E. Micheaux on February 18, 1821, prompting Chesnutt to redress this with the Micheaux Corporation on February 19 and with William B. Pratt of Houghton Mifflin. In his letter to Chesnutt on March 3, 1921, Pratt enclosed a letter of the same date to Swan E. Micheaux, in which he had included the contract. The contract itself has not been located. [back]
