[citation needed] French Huguenot refugees had settled in Virginia in 1700; their descendants took slaves west when they migrated into Kentucky after the American Revolutionary War.

Micheaux attended a well-established school for several years before the family eventually ran into money troubles and were forced to return to the farm.

Micheaux found pleasure in this job because he was able to speak to many new people and learned social skills that he would later reflect in his films.

He became a Pullman porter on the major railroads,[3] at that time considered prestigious employment for African Americans because it was relatively stable, well paid, and secure, and it enabled travel and interaction with new people.

When he left the position, he had seen much of the United States, had a couple of thousand dollars saved in his bank account, and had made a number of connections with wealthy white people who helped his future endeavors.

[6] While in Sioux City, he lived in and was influenced by the West 7th Street neighborhood where the town's African-American community had a strong presence.

He wrote more than 100 letters to fellow Negroes in the East beckoning them to come West, but only his older brother eventually took his advice.

One of Micheaux's fundamental beliefs was that hard work and enterprise would make any person rise to respect and prominence no matter his or her race.

In 1918, his novel The Homesteader, dedicated to his mother, attracted the attention of George Johnson, the manager of the Lincoln Motion Picture Company in Los Angeles.

[3] Micheaux wanted to be directly involved in the adaptation of his book as a movie, but Johnson resisted and never produced the film.

[3] Micheaux contacted wealthy academic connections from his earlier career as a porter, and sold stock for his company at $75 to $100 a share.

In addition to writing and directing his own films, Micheaux also adapted the works of different writers for his silent pictures.

He once commented: "It is only by presenting those portions of the race portrayed in my pictures, in the light and background of their true state, that we can raise our people to greater heights.

"[3] Financial hardships during the Great Depression eventually made it impossible for Micheaux to keep producing films, and he returned to writing.

It revolves around a man named Jean Baptiste, called the Homesteader, who falls in love with many white women but resists marrying one out of his loyalty to his race.

Within Our Gates revolved around the main character, Sylvia Landry, a mixed-race school teacher played by actress Evelyn Preer.

Before the flashback scene, we see that Sylvia travels to Boston, seeking funding for her school, which serves black children.

Micheaux explored the suffering of African Americans in the present day, without explaining how the situation arose in history.

Some feared that this film would cause even more unrest within society, and others believed it would open the public's eyes to the unjust treatment of blacks by whites.

[7] Micheaux adapted two works by Charles W. Chesnutt, which he released under their original titles: The Conjure Woman (1926) and The House Behind the Cedars (1927).

The latter, which dealt with issues of mixed race and passing, created so much controversy when reviewed by the Film Board of Virginia that Micheaux was forced to make cuts to have it shown.

Topics such as lynching, job discrimination, rape, mob violence, and economic exploitation were depicted in his films.

His films questioned the value system of both African-American and Euro-American societies, which stirred controversy with the press and state censors.

It is only by presenting those portions of the race portrayed in my pictures, in the light and background of their true state, that we can raise our people to greater heights.

[20][21] Mack told The Huffington Post he was shocked that, in spite of Micheaux's historical significance, there was "virtually nothing out there about [his] life".

[23] In 2018, Mack was interviewed by the news site Mic for its "Black Monuments Project", which named Oscar Micheaux as one of its 50 African Americans deserving of a statue.

[24] A historical marker in Roanoke, Virginia, commemorates his time living and working in the city as a film producer.