Peter P. Jones Explained

Peter P. Jones was a photographer and filmmaker in the United States. He established the Peter P. Jones Film Company in Chicago in 1914 and filmed African American subjects^[1] including vaudeville acts and the 1915 National Half Century Exposition and Lincoln Jubilee.^[2] He also filmed community documentaries,^[3] chronicling contemporary African American life and social organizations.^[4]

According to a front page story in the Chicago Defender, Jones established his film company with funding from South American investors.^[5] The company had an office at 3849 State Street.^[6] His 1916 film Re-Birth of a Nation was a response to The Birth of a Nation. He later established the Seminole Film Producing Company in New York City, but it never completed its first film project, Shadows and Sunshine, an adaptation of a story by Jesse Shipp.^[7]

Jones photographed Booker T. Washington.^[8] He also photographed Henry O. Tanner, Bert Williams, Aida Overton Walker, and W. E. B. Du Bois.^[5]

Filmography

• The Troubles of Sambo and Dinah^[2]
• 50 Years of Freedom^[2]
• Dawn of Truth (for the Honor of the 8th)^{[2] [9]}
• The Slacker^[2]
• The Accidental Ruler^[2]
• Re-Birth of a Nation (1916)^[10]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Doing the Right Thing: Black Film & TV in a Biased World. October 1, 2013. Micah Yongo.
2. Book: Field, Allyson Nadia. Uplift Cinema: The Emergence of African American Film and the Possibility of Black Modernity. May 22, 2015. Duke University Press. 9780822375555. Google Books.
3. Web site: A SALUTE TO EARLY BLACK FILMMAKERS. Hal Boedeker, Sentinel Television. Critic. OrlandoSentinel.com. July 1998 .
4. Book: Klotman . Phyllis Rauch . Struggles for Representation: African American Documentary Film and Video . Cutler . Janet K. . Indiana University Press . 1999 . 978-0-253-21347-1 . 11-15 . en.
5. Book: Everett, Anna. Returning the Gaze: A Genealogy of Black Film Criticism, 1909-1949. August 14, 2001. Duke University Press. 0822326140. Google Books.
6. Web site: Silent Era : Progressive Silent Film List. www.silentera.com.
7. Web site: » Small Independents .
8. Web site: Booker T. Washington / Photo by Peter P. Jones, 3631 State St., Chicago.. Library of Congress.
9. Web site: Documentary Film | Encyclopedia.com. www.encyclopedia.com.
10. Web site: Within Our Gates. silentfilm.org.