00:01He's been called the Jackie Robinson
00:03of film, the black
00:05D.W. Griffith. Oscar Michaud
00:08was an American original,
00:09the country's first black filmmaker.
00:12Shunned by the studios
00:13in Hollywood, Michaud wrote,
00:16produced, directed,
00:17and distributed his own films.
00:20At a time when African Americans
00:22were expected to accept the status quo,
00:24he was a man who marched
00:26to the beat of his own drum.
00:57He was a man who marched to the beat of his own drum.
01:01Oscar Michaud was a towering figure
01:03even by today's standards.
01:05He was not only America's preeminent black
01:07filmmaker for three decades,
01:09but also the country's most prolific,
01:11having directed or produced
01:1322 silent movies and 15
01:15talking pictures during his illustrious
01:17career.
01:46Misha was born on
01:47on January 2nd, 1884
01:49in Metropolis, Illinois,
01:51a town that is today known for another
01:53man of steel.
01:56Oscar was the fifth child
01:58of former slaves from Kentucky.
02:00His father, Calvin Swan Michaud,
02:02was illiterate,
02:04but extremely ambitious
02:05and hard-working.
02:06A landowner by age 28,
02:09Calvin was a devoted husband
02:10and dutiful provider
02:12for his wife and 11 children.
02:14Oscar's mother,
02:15Belle Gough-Michaud,
02:17though uneducated,
02:18placed a high value
02:19on books and learning.
02:21Deeply religious,
02:22Belle indoctrinated her children
02:24with Bible scripture
02:25and Booker T. Washington's teachings
02:27on black self-reliance.
02:29It is at the bottom of life
02:30we should begin
02:31and not at the top,
02:32she would say,
02:34quoting Washington.
02:35Nor should we allow our grievances
02:37to overshadow our opportunities.
02:39His mother's positive influence
02:41and the proud example
02:42set by his father
02:43left a lasting impression
02:45on Oscar Michaud
02:46and shaped his view of himself
02:48and the outside world
02:49for his entire life.
03:00Life in Metropolis
03:02at the close of the 19th century
03:04was dull for an adventurous soul
03:05like young Oscar.
03:07His father, Calvin,
03:09expected his sons
03:10to work the fields
03:11and perform various chores
03:12around the farm,
03:14none of which appealed
03:15to the precocious teenager.
03:17Michaud received good grades
03:19in school,
03:20but felt unappreciated
03:21by his teachers,
03:22making matters worse,
03:24his classmates thought
03:25he was strange
03:26and the older people
03:27called him Whirly,
03:28a free thinker
03:29and a dangerous associate
03:31for young Christian folks.
03:33Tired of rural life,
03:35Oscar dropped out of high school
03:36and left Metropolis.
03:39After bouncing around
03:40central Illinois,
03:41working at a car plant
03:42for six months,
03:43then a coal mine
03:45less than six weeks,
03:46Oscar Michaud boarded a train
03:48headed for the city
03:49of his dreams,
03:50the rising black metropolis
03:52of Chicago.
03:53In the early part
03:55of the 20th century,
03:56Chicago was a city
03:57on the move
03:58and African Americans
03:59were moving with it.
04:01They were finding new jobs,
04:03testing old boundaries,
04:05and pursuing happiness
04:06like never before.
04:08In Chicago,
04:09it seemed like anything
04:11was possible
04:11for a hardworking black man
04:13with the right attitude
04:14and a desire to succeed.
04:22When Oscar Michaud
04:24arrived in Chicago
04:25in 1902,
04:26it was the dead of winter.
04:28His oldest brother,
04:29William,
04:29lived in a rooming house
04:31on the city's
04:31predominantly black south side.
04:34William,
04:35who lived rent-free,
04:36allowed Oscar
04:37to stay with him
04:38for $6 a month.
04:40Suddenly desperate for work,
04:43Oscar went out
04:43in search of employment.
04:45While finding a job
04:46in Chicago was easy,
04:48finding a dependable one
04:49was a different story.
04:51For a short time,
04:53Michaud worked at the
04:54infamous Union Stockyards,
04:56which he described as
04:57a mecca for the down and out.
05:00Then briefly at a steel meal
05:02in nearby Juliet.
05:04Once back in Chicago,
05:06he registered with
05:07employment agencies
05:08and responded to
05:09help-wanted ads
05:10without much luck.
05:11Eventually,
05:12he took a job
05:13shining shoes
05:14at a barbershop
05:15in Wheaton, Illinois.
05:17It was by no means
05:18the glamorous life
05:19he envisioned,
05:20but with tips
05:21and the extra money
05:22he earned
05:23pitching hay in the morning,
05:25Michaud was able
05:25to save enough
05:26to open his first
05:27bank account.
05:29Oscar liked
05:30having his own money
05:31and the freedom
05:31it offered.
05:32Now he desired
05:33a career
05:33that would give him
05:34more of both,
05:42Abraham Lincoln,
05:43as the saying went,
05:45freed the slaves,
05:46George Pullman hired them.
05:49The largest employer
05:50of African Americans
05:52at the turn of the century
05:53was the Pullman Car Company,
05:55founded by George Mortimer Pullman.
05:57The company,
05:58which manufactured
05:59luxury railroad sleeping cars,
06:02originally hired ex-slaves
06:04as attendants,
06:05known as Pullman Porters,
06:07to serve upper-class
06:08white passengers
06:09with big smiles
06:10and no complaints.
06:12Although they worked
06:14long hours
06:14on their feet
06:15without much sleep
06:16and earned barely
06:17enough to survive,
06:18a Pullman porter
06:20was one of the best jobs
06:21in the black community
06:22because it provided
06:23a steady paycheck
06:24and an opportunity
06:25to travel.
06:27They wore snappy uniforms,
06:29served famous celebrities
06:31and politicians,
06:32and knew all
06:33the latest happenings.
06:34This was the job
06:35Oscar was looking for.
06:37The 18-year-old
06:38visited the Pullman office
06:40in Chicago twice a week,
06:41hoping,
06:42like hundreds of other
06:43young black men,
06:44to secure a position.
06:46Finally,
06:47after less than a year
06:48in Chicago,
06:49Misha was hired
06:50on December 7, 1902
06:52and began an exciting
06:54new chapter in his life.
07:01Oscar's first month
07:02says a Pullman porter
07:03took him to all
07:04the major cities,
07:04but it was the open
07:06frontier that fired
07:07his imagination
07:08and he was eventually
07:09assigned to a route
07:10that traveled through
07:11Colorado, Wyoming,
07:13and Idaho
07:13before finally reaching
07:15Portland, Oregon.
07:17Misha got along
07:17with the affluent
07:18white passengers
07:19who liked talking
07:20about themselves
07:21as much as he liked
07:22listening,
07:23but soon realized
07:24his $25-a-month salary
07:26would never be enough
07:27to provide the financial
07:28independence he sought,
07:30even with the tips
07:31he was making.
07:32Oscar supplemented his
07:34income with a widespread
07:35illegal practice
07:36called knocking down,
07:38which involved Pullman
07:39conductors charging
07:40passengers for services
07:42that weren't reported
07:43to the company.
07:44Porters were given
07:45half the money,
07:46a knockdown,
07:47for looking the other way.
07:49The hustle was lucrative,
07:51but nerve-wracking
07:52for Misha,
07:52who had to elude
07:53company detectives
07:54known as spotters,
07:56hired to spy
07:57on Pullman employees.
07:59Although he hated
08:00the guilt and paranoia
08:01that came with stealing,
08:02Oscar was able
08:03to stash away
08:04more than $2,300,
08:06nearly $80,000
08:07in today's money,
08:09in just 18 months.
08:11Misha had real money
08:12to work with.
08:13All he needed now
08:14was something
08:15to invest in.
08:17The first thing
08:17one of the forms
08:18and theeda
08:23said to me
08:23doing
08:24do
08:24the
08:24the
08:24let
08:24us
08:24now
08:24Obrigado.
