In mid-April of 1939, The Afro American spent some time with The Dandridge Sisters (actual sisters, Vivian and Dorothy Dandridge, and friend, Etta Jones) after an engagement at the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C. 

Cited Article: "The Afro Cameraman Spends a Day with the Dandridge Sisters)" - The Afro American - Apr. 22, 1939

The "Roaring Twenties" was a period in which Black entertainers emerged as forces on the stage, in music, and on the screen. As we now know, talent didn't always grant fair or even kind treatment. Black performers that thought they'd gotten their big breaks on the American stage, screen, or radio, found themselves fleeing to Europe for better treatment and better opportunities by the 1930s. Hollywood's first Black Leading Lady, Nina Mae McKinney, was one of them.

In this episode, "A.G. Marie" shares news of Nina Mae McKinney's sixteen-week tour of Europe in 1936. She'd made Paris her home just a few years after the release of HALLELUJAH (1929). Her life and career were split between the United States and various European countries until she finally returned to New York in 1960. Believed to have become a domestic worker in her final years, Nina Mae McKinney died of a heart attack on May 3, 1967. She was 54 years old. 

Cited Article: "Bye Bye" - The Afro American (Mar. 28, 1936) - scroll downward and left

Cabin in the Sky is now mostly loved as an iconic work in Black Cinema history. At the time of its release, however, not everyone felt so fondly about it.

Hear the sweet story of how Allen "Farina" Hoskins got his start in the film industry.

Cited article: "At Home with Farina of "Our Gang" Fame" by Ruby Berkley Goodwin (Mar. 1, 1930)

Do you know the name, Ollie Burgoyne?

Coming up in the same American entertainment period of trailblazers like Bert Williams, George Walker, and Aida Overton Walker, Olga "Ollie" Burgoyne (despite my mispronunciation, the emphasis is on the 'goyne' - bur-GOYNE) appeared in at least one Hollywood film and is believed to have worked behind-the-scenes in others. 

Hear her story on this episode of the Kindaris Pictures Podcast.

In 1940, The Afro American reported that sculptor, Augusta Savage, was commissioned to create a trophy for the Council for Better Negro Motion Pictures. 

Cited article: "Augusta Savage to Make Trophy as Film Award" - The Afro American (Jan. 2, 1940)

In 1944, The Afro American newspaper reported that five movie companies had been accused of deleting footage of Black-American soldiers from overseas newsreels.

The Regal Theater in Durham, NC was one of many theaters opened specifically for African-Americans in the South. When the Regal opened its doors to moviegoers in 1930, it boasted a Western Electric sound system--making it the first "Negro" theater in the United States to have such powerful equipment.