Black Choice Postage™ is pleased to present Black Hollywood Yesteryear Collection Series No. 1. Since the turn of the 20th Century and the advent of the motion picture camera by Thomas Edison, talented, forward-thinking African Americans looked for venues to counter negative stereotypes of the day, and to advance racial pride and equality.   As a result, a group of pioneering entrepreneurs and creative talent came together to pave the way for many of the fine movies and performances that we enjoy today.

Lincoln Motion Picture Company was the first “all-colored” Hollywood production company, spawning a generation of small black production companies. Almost from the beginning, there were cross-over artists, like businessman/ actor Noble Johnson, silent star Madam Sul Te Wan, and Bill Pickett the first black cowboy star. After Lincoln, producer-writer-director Oscar Micheaux became the first and most successful early black filmmaker, promoting his more than 20 films to northern Negro audiences and throughout the segregated south.

From silent and talking pictures…. to the theater, we honor and salute the achievements made by these great Americans during this Golden era of entertainment. This rare collection is being offered through the Valerie Shaw Collection as a classic historical postage series for your pleasure, enjoyment, and enlightenment. By rolling your pointer over the thumbnail pictures displayed above, image and bio / information will appear in the screens to the right for each postage image selected.