Oscar Micheaux (1884-1951) 1893-1951

Oscar Micheaux, renowned leading creator of African American “race films” between 1919 and 1948, produced up to six full-length films in Roanoke between 1922 and 1925. The Strand Theatre housed the Micheaux Film Corporation from 1923 to 1925, while Micheaux lodged across the street at the Hampton Hotel, now the Dumas. Many of Roanoke's black professionals bought stock in Micheaux’s corporation and five served on its board of directors including Alfred F. Brooks, who built the Strand. Famous civil rights attorney Oliver W. Hill, Sr., then a student boarding in Roanoke, had a walk-on part in one film.

Department of Historic Resources, 2007