Pioneer African-American Film Director, Writer, Producer. He was credited for producing the first African-American feature film production and keeping the African-American independent movie production alive from 1918 thru 1948. He was one of thirteen children and not fond of working his parents' farm, therefore at age 17 he left for Chicago, Illinois to live with an older brother eventually working for a railroad company as a pullman porter. Micheaux worked and accumulated enough money to move and buy a ranch in eastern South Dakota in 1905. He eventually was married in 1910 and divorced two years later. He taught himself the techniques of writing where by he published and sold from door to door his first novel in 1915, entitled The Conquest. Encouraged by his success, Micheaux took his farm and life experiences and wrote about them in his second novel, The Homesteader, published in 1917. From the book sales profits, he invested in his own business, by 1918 which he called the Micheaux Film and Book Company which operated in Sioux City, South Dakota and in Chicago. Micheaux was still not satisfied with this endeavor, therefore he decided to make his first feature film based upon his novel, The Homesteader, released in 1918. A successful series of 35 mm Silent Films and later sound films were later produced which included Within Our Gates (1919), The Brute (1920), Uncle Jasper's Will (1922), Deceit (1923), A Son of Satan (1924), Body and Soul (1925), The Devil's Disciple (1925), Dark Princess (1928), The Wages of Sin (1929), The Exile (1929), A Daughter of the Congo (1930), Darktown Revue (1931), The Exile (1931), Black Magic (1932), Harlem After Midnight (1934), Murder in Harlem (1935) and Lying Lips (1939). Oscar Micheaux died from heart disease in Charlotte, N.C. on March 25, 1951 and was buried in an grave marked with a small metal plate until 1988 when family, friends and fans gathered at his grave site for the dedication of his tombstone. Among those in attendance were actor and producer Robert Townsend and Tommy Hicks. In 1996 Micheaux was posthumously inducted into the Director's Guild of America for his many contributions and in 1987 he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (star located on Hollywood Blvd.). Each year the National Black Programming Consortium presents the Oscar Micheaux Award to an accomplished, deserving media professional or entertainer whose work embodies the creativity, dedication and pioneering spirit of Micheaux in the development, production and presentation of programing depicting people of color and their culture throughout the world in non-stereotypical ways.