Harlem Goes West: The Black Cowboy in Western Films is an exhibition featuring 26 posters from the often-overlooked genre of black Western films.
The release of the racist film Birth of a Nation (1915) gave rise to an industry of all black film companies to create movies depicting African Americans from their own perspective. These movies were called “race movies” and were often shown in private homes to escape segregated movie theaters.
The romance and right versus wrong struggles prevalent in Western storylines appealed to African Americans across the country, just as they did to white Americans at the time. Herb Jeffries, famous for his singing cowboy roles in Harlem on the Prairie (1938), Bronze Buckaroo (1938) and Harlem Rides the Range (1939), was inspired to create the all-black cast films after seeing a line of African Americans waiting outside a segregated movie theater for an all-white Western. Jeffries recalled thinking “In the real West, one of every four cowboys was black. Blacks helped pioneer the West.”
From those early days of film to today, the Western genre as a whole has deviated from its original standard formula. From the original mold of Bull Dogger (1923) and Flaming Crisis (1924) come blaxploitation films such as Soul Soldier (1972) and Charley One Eye (1973) as well as irreverent comedic interpretations such as Blazing Saddles (1974).
The exhibit is supported by a moderated film series featuring monthly showings of popular Westerns with black casts and directors:
© 2008
