Lobby card for Go Down, Death!: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

The lobby card features a tinted photograph of a scene from the film depicting a large congregation seated in pews inside a church. A decorative stained-glass window is on the far wall. The black and white image has had bright colors added to the stained-glass window and the clothing of some of the congregation members. Above the congregation is printed [ALFRED N. SACK / REVERENTLY PRESENTS] in small white text followed by [GO DOWN, DEATH!] in large yellow print and [THE STORY OF JESUS AND THE DEVIL] in white text. At the bottom left corner in yellow text is [ALL-COLORED CAST / WITH / SPENCER WILLIAMS / MYRA HEMMINGS / THE HEAVENLY CHOIR / JIMMIE GREEN'S ORCHESTRA / Story by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON]. There is a white and blue seal in the bottom right corner which reads [MARK OF MERIT / SACK / ATTRACTIONS]. There is a border around the image. There is blue text on the bottom proper right corner in the border which reads [*COUNTRY OF ORIGIN U.S.A.*].

On the back are black handwritten numbers going down horizontally on the left side which read [1416]. There are black handwritten numbers going up horizontally on the right side which read [4315]. There is a section that was crossed out in black above “1416”. In the top right corner there is handwriting in blue ink. The number "100" is crossed out. There is additional text which reads [N / 3707 / 100-]. There are tears, holes, and areas of discoloration in several areas.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1944
• Distributed by: Sack Amusement Enterprises, American, 1920 - 1979
• Subject of: Alfred N. Sack, American, 1898 - 1969
• Subject of: Spencer Williams, American, 1893-1969
• Subject of: Myra Hemmings, American, 1895 - 1968
• Subject of: The Heavenly Choir, American
• Subject of: Jimmie Green's Orchestra, American
• Subject of: James Weldon Johnson, American, 1871 - 1938
• Type: lobby cards
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W (image): 9 15/16 × 12 7/8 in. (25.2 × 32.7 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (sheet): 11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm)
• Place used: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Advertising
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Poetry
• Topic: Preaching
• Topic: Race films
• Topic: Religion
• Object number: 2013.118.107.1
• 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 displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.