Founded by Richard Edward Norman, the studio produced silent films featuring African-American casts from 1919 to 1928.

The studio transitioned to distribution and promotion after the rise of talking pictures made its technology obsolete, and eventually closed.

Born in Middleburg, Florida in 1891,[4] Richard Edward Norman started his film career in the Midwest making movies for white audiences in the 1910s.

His early work was a series of "home talent" films, in which he would travel to various towns with stock footage and a basic script; after recruiting local celebrities for minor roles, they would film a small portion of footage (approximately 200 feet of new material) over the course 40[dubious – discuss] of a few days.

This led to his filming other events and productions throughout the Midwest, including the play "Pro Patria" at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Films produced by Norman Studios include: Green-Eyed Monster (1919), a railroad drama; The Love Bug (1919), a comedy; The Bull-Dogger (1921), a western; The Crimson Skull (1922), another western; Regeneration (1923), an action adventure set on an island after a shipwreck; The Flying Ace (1926), Norman's most famous film; and Black Gold (1928), a drama set around the oil business.

This was especially important for films featuring black actors, as the West was seen as a land of opportunity free from segregation and oppression.

The Crimson Skull was filmed at the same time as The Bull Dogger, and again features Pickett, Bush, and Peg.

Edited, produced, and released in 1922, The Crimson Skull tells the story of a town beset by bandits, led by the infamous 'Skull' (an actor in a skeleton costume).

After Bob infiltrates the gang to free them both, he must stand trial via "The Crimson Skull," wherein dripping blood reveals his fate.

He is rehired to his previous job as a railroad company detective to solve a new case involving stolen payroll money and a missing employee.

Units were sold to theaters in the nation, but a new method of putting sound-on-film debuted making Norman's system obsolete.

In 1917, John W. Martin was elected mayor of Jacksonville on an anti-film campaign intending to curb the wild excesses of the film industry.

[4] After Gloria sold the studio in 1976,[17] the building became the location for a variety of companies such as plumbing and telephone answering services.

Jacksonville is working to transfer the Norman Studios Silent Film Museum to the National Park Service.

The successful National Historic Landmark nomination was written as part of a graduate-level course at the University of Central Florida.