Luther J. Pollard

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J Luther Pollard - May 1918 EH.JPG

Luther J. Pollard (died 1977) was an advertising executive and businessman in the film industry in Chicago. [1] [2]

John W. Pollard was his father. [1] He was a boxer [1] and served in a "Colored" unit of the Union Army during the American Civil War. [3] Luther's brother Frederick "Fritz" Douglass Pollard played football for Brown University, [1] [4] worked for the studio, went on to coach football in the NFL and established the New York Independent News newspaper. [4]

His brother Fritz Pollard discussed their family and discrimination they faced in a 1979 interview he gave at Brown University. [5]

The 1976 documentary film The Very Last Laugh is about the Ebony Film Corporation and Pollard's filmmaking career in Chicago. It includes footage of Pollard being interviewed. William Franklin Grisham wrote and directed the film. [6] [7] Pollard said he rented the studio to Oscar Micheaux to make Within Our Gates and other of his early films after Micheaux came to Chicago from Sioux City, Iowa. Pollard said he had a sister who helped Micheaux edit the book. [7]

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John William Pollard, born in Virginia into a family of free black farmers while the slave trade was still thriving in the South, was among the first group of African Americans to join the Union Army in 1862, serving in a colored unit during the American Civil War. He later worked as a barber and eventually settled with his wife Catherine Amanda Hughes in Chicago, where his family included five boys and three girls who made pioneering achievements in sports, music, film, and community service. Pollard lived at 1928 Lunt and had his barber shop at 7017 North Ravenswood. Several family members are buried at Rosehill Cemetery.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "LUTHER J. POLLARD". October 13, 1977 via NYTimes.com.
  2. Collier, Kevin Scott (September 8, 2017). Luther J. Pollard: Ebony Film Corp. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN   9781976218736 via Google Books.
  3. "[Civil War veteran John W. Pollard, who served under the name of Private Jackson Ridgway in the 83rd U.S. Colored Troops (USCT), in Grand Army of the Republic uniform with medal] / J.A. Wolfe, 4841 N. Clark St., Rogers Park, Chicago". Library of Congress.
  4. 1 2 "The Rise and Fall of Ebony Films – Norman Studios". 17 January 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  5. "Brown Digital Repository | Item | bdr:858463". repository.library.brown.edu.
  6. "The Very Last Laugh, Part 1". Chicago Film Archives. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  7. 1 2 "Chicago Film Archives: William Franklin Grisham Collection". www.chicagofilmarchives.org.