Charles W. Chesnutt to Swan E. Micheaux, 23 February 1922
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February 23, 1922.
Micheaux Film Corporation,1
538 South Dearborn Street,
Chicago, Ill.
Attention Mr. S. E. Micheaux
Gentlemen:
I beg to call your attention to the fact that your two notes for $100.00 each, one payable December 15, 1921, and the other January 15, 1922,2 for picture rights in "The House Behind the Cedars"3 are overdue.4 I wrote your Chicago office January 15th and shortly after received a letter dated January 15th from Oscar Micheaux,5 in which he promised me an early remittance, which has not materialized.6
Trusting that you will give the matter prompt attention, I remain
Yours very truly, CWC/FLP. S. I have also written Mr. Oscar Micheaux today7 at Jacksonville, Fla.8
C. W. C.Correspondent: 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. Chesnutt came to an arrangement regarding the movie-rights contract for his novel The House Behind the Cedars with Micheaux Film Corporation, which produced a series of five $100.00 promissory ("cognovit") notes, each due on the 15th of the month (September to January). These were paid with delays and incurred additional interest and penalties: the September note was paid on October 1; the October note around November 13; November's on December 4; and December's not until May 1922. The last note was not paid at all. Chesnutt declined several offers of stocks or bonds in the company in trade for the notes, and passed 25% of each payment on to Houghton Mifflin Company. [back]
3. 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]
4. 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]
5. 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]
6. 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]
7. See Chesnutt's letter to Oscar Micheaux, February 23, 1922. [back]
8. Oscar Micheaux explored and then abandoned the option of shooting in Jacksonville, Florida out of concern that his Black cast and crew would encounter discrimination. But many of Micheaux's films, including the film version of The House Behind the Cedars, were shot at least partly in the South, namely around Roanoke, Virginia, where the Micheaux Film Corporation had a branch office. [back]
