Press kit for the film Black Gold: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Press kit for the film Black Gold. The kit is double sided. The front of the kit has a news article on the left side. The stories are titled [BLACK GOLD BRINGS PROSPER- / IT TO COLORED RANCHERS / OF TATUMS, OKLAHOMA]. It tells how the movie helped the town financially and how the story is based on true events. Below the article are advertisements for Norman Studios including other movies the studio produced. The right side of the front of the press kit also includes a letter to exhibitors from R. E. Norman. On the left side is a reproduction of a window card for Black Gold. At the top of the card in a white box with blue text is [Coming to this Theater / (THIS IS EXACT REPORDUCTION OF WINDOW CARD)]. The card is red with black images and text. The images include a couple kissing, an oil rig, a woman bandaging a man, a man holding a gun and two men fighting. Text on the card reads [THE NORMAN STUDIO PRESENTS / BLACK GOLD / Thrilling Epic of the Oil Fields / WITH ALL COLORED CAST / One of the true Stories of / Living Colored Examples]. Black text in the bottom right corner reads [A Smashing Photo Play / CO-STARRING / Lawrence Criner and Kathryn / Boyd, Original Lafayette Play- / ers. Steve Reynolds. “Peg” / Alfred Norcom. United States Marshal. L. B. Tatums and the / entire City of Tatums. Okla.]. The back of the press kit features advertisements on the left side. On the right side is a copy of the window card on the front side. This version of the window card is white with blue ink.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1928
• Published by: Norman Studios, American, 1920 - 1928
• Subject of: John L. Criner, American, 1898 - 1965
• Subject of: Kathryn Boyd, American, 1897 - 1965
• Subject of: Steve Reynolds, American, 1892 - 1945
• Subject of: Alfred Norcom, American, 1897 - 1939
• Subject of: Lee B. Tatum, American, 1861 - 1933
• Type: press kits
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 21 15/16 × 28 1/16 in. (55.8 × 71.3 cm)
• Place captured: Tatums, Carter County, Oklahoma, United States, North and Central America
• Place used: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: American West
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Race films
• Topic: Western films
• Object number: 2019.22.16
• 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.