[Film]. [Racism]

Steinberg's Athol Opera House. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Nov. 4, 5, 6 ... The American feature Film Co., Louis B. Mayer, Pres. and Gen'l Mgr., Presents W.D. Griffith's Birth of a Nation... [caption title]

[Athol, Ma. 1916]. Broadside, 16 x 5 inches. Previously folded. A couple of chips and small closed tears at edges. Even tanning. Good plus. Item #932

Rare broadside advertisement for a weekend engagement of D.W. Griffith's infamous silent epic The Birth of a Nation at Steinberg's Athol Opera House, located in Athol, Massachusetts. The broadside gives dates and times of screenings (November 4-6, 2:10 & 8:10 daily), a list of cast and characters, a lengthy discussion of Griffith's desire for historical accuracy in his work, and a message about "the play's message of peace." To wit, the broadside states that, "If this graphic presentment serves no other purpose, its message of universal peace marks it of great important. Morally and educationally it established the futility of armed conflict.... But for the hatreds engendered in the Civil War, the suffering of the Reconstruction period would never have been known." The film, based on Thomas Dixon's 1905 novel, The Clansman, is often cited as the principal inspiration for the revival of the Ku Klux Klan in the 20th century.

Price: $450.00