- Collection:
- The Blues, Black Vaudeville, and the Silver Screen, 1912-1930s: Selections from the Records of Macon's Douglass Theatre
- Title:
- Letter: Valdosta, Georgia to Ben Stein, Macon, Georgia, 1928 Feb. 18
- Creator:
- Stein, Luke
- Date of Original:
- 1928-02-18
- Subject:
- Motion picture theaters--Georgia--Macon
Motion picture theaters--Georgia--Valdosta
Contracts for work and labor--Georgia Negotiation--Georgia
Feature films--Georgia
Censorship--Georgia--Macon
Motion pictures--Censorship
Newspapers--Georgia--Macon
Newspapers--Georgia--Valdosta
Is your daughter safe? (Motion picture : 1927)
Douglass Theatre (Macon, Ga.)
Stein, Ben
Palace Theatre (Valdosta, Ga.) - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Bibb County, Macon, 32.84069, -83.6324
United States, Georgia, Lowndes County, Valdosta, 30.83334, -83.28032 - Medium:
- letters (correspondence)
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- image/jpeg
text/html - Description:
- Letter from Luke Stein, owner and manager of the Palace Theatre in Valdosta, Georgia, to his brother Ben Stein, owner and manager of the Douglass Theatre, dated February 18, 1928, addressing a problem with showing a film at the Douglass Theatre. Luke relates that he read in the paper about the trouble Ben had with the film, probably Is Your Daughter Safe?. He advises Ben to convince the mayor and other officials to see the picture in order to capitalize on the publicity that he received. Luke suggests that if the mayor will not listen, Ben should speak with Mr. Johnson or Jenkins of the Macon Telegraph or News for help from the newspaper. He adds that Ben should tell the man that the editor of the Valdosta Times sent him. Luke judges from what was said in the newspaper article that the mayor must have been angry, and hopes that his brother came out all right. In a handwritten postscript, Luke mentions that he has enclosed the Metro contract (not included with this document) and a contract for several films (not included with this document) that he considers to be a good purchase. The February 17, 1928 Macon Telegraph reported that both the Douglass Theatre and Grand Theatre, the theater for Macon's white citizenry, were prevented from showing Is Your Daughter Safe? because of its condemnation as indecent by the Macon Better Film committee. Police closed the Douglass under orders of Mayor Luther Williams. The 1927 Chadwick Pictures film directed by Louis King and Leon Lee treated prostitution, the "white slave traffic," and the ravages of veneral disease.
Digital image and encoded transcription of an original manuscript, scanned, transcribed and encoded by the Digital Library of Georgia in 2005, as part of Georgia HomePLACE. This project is supported with federal LSTA funds administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. - Local Identifier:
- dbr095
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/dtrm/id:dbr095
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/do:dlg_dtrm_dbr095
- IIIF manifest:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_dtrm_dbr095/presentation/manifest.json
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: [title of item], Theater Records Series, Charles Henry Douglass, Jr. Business Records, 1906-1967, Middle Georgia Archives, presented in the Digital Library of Georgia.
- Extent:
- [1] p.
Manuscript held by the Middle Georgia Archives, Washington Memorial Library, Charles Henry Douglass, Jr. business records, 1906-1967, box 22, folder 223, document 33. - Holding Institution:
- Washington Memorial Library, Middle Georgia Regional Library
- Rights:
-
Page: [1]
[Note: This document contains typewritten, handwritten, and printed text.]
[printed text:
THE PALACE THEATRE
INCORPORATED
OFFICE OF THE MANAGER
Valdosta, Ga. [Georgia],]
[typewritten text: Feb [February] 18, 1928.
Dear Ben --
Sorry that I did not get to go back to Macon with you, especially when I read in the paper of the trouble that you had with the picture. I certainly hope that you came out all right. If there is any way you can get the mayor and other officials that have anything to do with it, to see the picture, you could play it and make some money on it after the publicity that you got. If the Mayor will not listen at you go in to see Mr. Johnson, or Jenkins, of the Macon Telegraph or News, and he will help you out with the News paper [Newspaper] end of the matter. Tell him that the editor of the Valdosta Times sent you to see him. I feel like you caught plenty as from the write up in the paper I can judge just how sore the Mayor was, and I hope that you came out alright [all right].
Much love to Ruth, the children, and your self [yourself],
Your brother,
[Signed] Lukie]
[written text: The Metro contracts of yours came to me so thought you had better sign them, I am also enclosing [deleted text: con] my contract of the few pictures I bought as you can send it in with yours when you sign them -- that was a good buy --]