Finding Their Voices: The Representation of African American Women in Silent Film is a five-part digital program hosted by the Norman Studios Silent Film Museum in Jacksonville, Florida, and supported by Florida Humanities, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The timely and topical series examines the often radical misrepresentation of Black women in mainstream silent film and reveals the ways that “race filmmakers” such as Floridian Richard E. Norman strove to reverse those demeaning stereotypes and address racial injustices by giving women both a voice and an expanded role in post-World War One society, history, and culture.

Utilizing a variety of multi- and inter-disciplinary perspectives to explore crucial issues of race and gender, Finding Their Voices builds on the Norman Studios’ past work in the Jacksonville community; and it demonstrates how the representation of Black women in early films serves as a microcosm for many of the race problems that persist today. The program comprises five major presentations, each of which is augmented by films, still images, questions designed to inspire and provoke further discussion, and suggestions for additional reading and viewing. The purpose of the series is not only to educate and entertain viewers but also to initiate valuable and ongoing community conversations, which are more necessary than ever in today’s divisive times.

The program topics cover racial stereotyping of women in early Hollywood films and anti-typing in the work of such important if still under-appreciated filmmakers as Richard E. Norman, Oscar Micheaux, the Colored Players Film Corporation, Eloyce Patrick King Gist, and Zora Neale Hurston. Among the speakers are distinguished and prolific film scholars Dr. Gerald R. Butters, Jr. (Aurora University), Dr. Christina N. Baker (University of California, Merced), Ken Fox (Eastman Museum, Rochester, NY), and Dr. Barbara Tepa Lupack (former Academic Dean at SUNY and New York State Public Scholar). The exhibit was designed by Cher Davis, owner and founder of Brand U Love, who serves on the NSSFM’s Board of Advisors.

For further information about the Norman Studios Digital Resource Center or to inquire about reprint permissions, please contact Barbara Tepa Lupack, Program Director and NSDRC Editor, at blupack@normanstudios.org.

THE PRESENTERS