The Invisibility of the Black Working Class in Early Films (1890s-1930s)

This article explores the historical invisibility of the Black working class in early American cinema, focusing on Pennsylvania between the 1890s and 1930s. Drawing on African American studies, film studies and labor studies, it examines how films from this period reinforced racialized conceptions of the working class by excluding or distorting the image of Black laborers. From Siegmund Lubin’s racially coded comedies to the race film The Scar of Shame (1929) and the pre-Code classic Baby Face (1933), the study traces how cinema shaped public perceptions of race and class. It highlights the persistent absence of Black working-class protagonists, especially in narratives rooted in Northern industrial regions, and argues for a regional approach to film history that re-centers marginalized voices. Ultimately, the article reveals how early film culture contributed to a dominant vision of the working class as white—an exclusion still echoed in contemporary representations

Intersectionality · Invisibility · Movie theater · Narrative · Shame · Working class · Cinema and Media Studies · Music Education and Analysis · Race, History, and American Society