African American cinema evolved at just about the same pace as white cinema, and although the role of Black women in early silent film has only recently begun to receive popular and academic attention, Black women were involved in Black cinema from the very start of American film history.
Others have argued that that distinction belongs to Madame E. Toussaint Welcome's war documentary Doing Their Bit (1916) or Eloyce King Patrick Gist for Hell Bound Train (ca.
[4][5][6] What's certain is that Black women were contributing as screenwriters, actors, directors and producers from the earliest days of film.
[7][8] The film industry's pioneers include Alice B. Russell, Eslanda Robeson, Eloyce King Patrick Gist, Zora Neale Hurston, Tressie Souders, Madame E. Toussaint Welcome, Mrs. M. Webb and Birdie Gilmore whose contributions occurred when both African American women and men took on the role of director, producer and screenwriter.
[10] The Silent film era in the United States was from the late 1890s to the mid 1920s, but only a fraction of the original inventory still exist today.