Charles W. Chesnutt to Swan E. Micheaux, 16 January 1922
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January 16, 1922.
Micheaux Film Corporation,1
538 South Dearborn Street,
Chicago, Ill.
Attention Mr. S. E. Micheaux.
Dear Mr. Micheaux:
I have not yet received check for your note due December 15th.2 Mr. Oscar Micheaux3 remitted to me for the November 15th note on December 4th, from Charleston, West Virgina, saying that the December 15th note would be paid January 1st.4 As I don't know whether he is in Charleston, West Virginia, or not,5 I am writing to you direct, though I will send a copy of the letter to him at Charleston, West Virginia, on the chance that he may be there yet.
The January 15th note is now due, but of course I will be satisfied if I get that by February 1st.6
Kindly give this matter attention and oblige.
Yours very truly, CWC/FLCorrespondent: Swan Emerson Micheaux (1896–1975) was Oscar Micheaux's younger brother and served as secretary, treasurer, and booking manager of the Micheaux Film Corporation from 1920 to 1927. He was suspected of financial mismanagement and forced to resign in 1928.
1. The Micheaux Film Corporation began in 1919 as the Micheaux Book and Film Company. Founded by Black novelist, film director, and film producer Oscar Micheaux (1884–1951), it was based in Chicago, with offices in New York City and Roanoke, Virginia, and became the most successful Black-owned film company of the 20th century. In the 1920s and 30s, Micheaux produced at least three dozen films featuring Black actors and themes he believed to be of particular interest to Black audiences, three of them based loosely on Chesnutt's work. In 1928, the company voluntarily filed for bankruptcy, reorganized, and survived until 1940. Most of the films are lost. [back]
2. Unless Oscar Micheaux's letter of January 15, 1922, was misdated, it crossed with Chesnutt's January 16 [not 15], 1921, letter to Swan E. Micheaux. Oscar Micheaux had promised a check for the December 15 note on January 1, 1922. The note was not paid until May. [back]
3. 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]
4. See Oscar Micheaux's letter of December 4, 1921. [back]
5. Oscar Micheaux's connections to Charleston, the capital of West Virginia, are unclear, but his lost 1924 film A Son of Satan was edited there, and in 1923 he was reported to be visiting West Virginia while in Roanoke, Virginia, where the Micheaux Film Corporation had a branch office. [back]
6. 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]
