Stock certificate for Birth of a Race Photoplay Corporation: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A stock certificate for 16 shares from the Birth of a Race Photoplay Corporation. The certificate is off-white paper with rust, gray, and black designs and text. At the top center of the certificate there is a drawing of a torch. To the left of the drawing a box reads: [Number / 8113] and a box on the right reads: [Shares / 2]. Text below the boxes and drawings reads: [Birth of a Race Photoplay Corporation / Incorporated under the Laws of the State of Delaware / Capital Stock $1,000,000.00]. The certificate is made out to Arthur C. Young, by hand in blue ink. Additional text conveys information about the stock shares. The certificate is signed by the secretary and president of the corporation in the bottom center of the stock. To the left of the signatures is a foil seal. Below the signatures, text inside the decorative scroll work reads: [Shares $10.00 Each]. The back of the document is broken up into three sections, indicating that the document would have been presented as a tri-fold. The section to the left has rust colored pre-printed text with blank spaces to be filled in by hand to fill out if the stock were transferred. The center section has rust and black decorations and text indicating the amount of shares, the type of stock, the corporation, the recipient, and the date. The section to the right is blank.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: September 27, 1918
• Issued by: Birth of a Race Photoplay Corporation, American, founded 1916
• Printed by: J. W. Middleton & Co. Stationers, American
• Type: certificates
• Medium: ink on paper with foil
• Dimensions: H x W: 8 1/4 × 10 7/8 in. (21 × 27.6 cm)
• Place printed: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Black Enterprise
• Topic: Business
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Finance
• Topic: Race discrimination
• Topic: Race films
• Object number: 2015.97.20.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.