Charles W. Chesnutt to Charles Henser, 30 June 1922
| Textual Feature | Appearance |
|---|---|
| alterations to base text (additions or deletions) | added or deleted text |
| passage deleted with a strikethrough mark | |
| passage deleted by overwritten added text | Deleted text Added text |
| position of added text (if not added inline) | [right margin] text added in right margin; [above line] text added above the line |
| proofreading mark | ‸ |
| page number, repeated letterhead, etc. | page number or repeated letterhead |
| supplied text | [supplied text] |
| archivist note | archivist note |
June 30, 1922.
Micheaux Film Corporation,1
3457 So. State Street,
Chicago, Ill.
Attention Mr. Charles Henser, Auditor
Dear Sirs:
I have not yet received a check for your note due last January 15th, for which, according to your letter of May 27th, you were going to send me a cashier's check between the 10th and 15th of June.2 This note is long overdue, and I need the money, and I shall be very glad to have you give the matter immediate attention.3
Yours very truly, CWC/FLCorrespondent: No additional information is available about Charles Henson, who wrote to Chesnutt twice in 1922, on behalf of the Micheaux Film Corporation, about mix-ups and delays in sending checks.
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. A May 1922 check for $104.26 was the last payment Chesnutt ever received from Micheaux Film Corporation for the film rights to The House Behind the Cedars. An unlocated letter by the Micheaux Film Corporation from April 19, 1922, acknowledged by Chesnutt on April 28, enclosed two checks, one to be cashed May 15, the other June 15, 1922. But the May 15 check (covering the December 1921 promissory note) bounced. Both checks were then replaced by new cashier's checks with interest by Micheaux auditor Charles Henson on May 17, 1922, but only the first of these (for $104.25) could be cashed. Chesnutt passed on 25% ($26.06) to Houghton Mifflin Company on May 24, 1922, as per the contractual agreement, and requested that Micheaux pay the protest fee for the bounced check in his letter of May 23, 1922, but there is no record that the company did so. Instead, Charles Henson's letter of May 27, 1922, asked for more time to cover the June cashier's check (covering the January 1922 promissory note). Chesnutt's repeated inquiries to the company after this date failed to produce a payment on the last note. [back]
3. 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]
