Celebrating Black History Month: Harry Lew, first African-American professional basketball player

Harry Haskell Lew, born January 4, 1884 in what is now Lowell, Massachusetts, started out as a talented violinist and played a solo at his grammar school graduation. His great-great-grandfather, Barzillai Lew, served in the American Revolution and fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill. His grandparents house was a station on the Underground Railroad.  His father William Lew was a delegate to the 1891 Equal Rights Convention in Boston.

He joined the YMCA basketball team in 1898 and the team was state champions for the four hears he was with them.  In 1902, he was recruited to join Lowell's Pawtucketville Athletic Club of the New England Professional Basketball League. The manager was reluctant to put Lew into the game but after pressure from local press and a series of injuries to other players, Lew was allowed on the court. 

The New England League disbanded after the 1905 season.  He organized teams around New England before he played his final game in St. John's Vermont in 1926.  In 1928, he moved his dry cleaning business to Springfield, Massachusetts, where he died in 1963.

Celebrating Black History Month: Oscar Micheaux, first African-American feature filmmaker

Oscar Micheaux, born January 2, 1884 in Metropolis, Illinois, was an African-American independent film director and producer of more than 44 movies.  He has been described as the most successful African-American filmmaker of the first half of the 20th century.  

He became a homesteader in South Dakota and began writing as a second source of income, and submitted his articles to the press.  The Chicago Defender published one of his earliest articles.  

His 1918 novel, The Homesteader got the attention of George Johnson, the manager of the Lincoln Motion Picture Company, the first movie company owned and controlled by black filmmakers.  Conflicts between Micheaux and Johnson resulted in the Lincoln company not producing the film.

Micheaux founded the Micheaux Film & Book Company in Chicago and its first project was the Homesteader.  Micheaux's movies featured genuine black life, dealing with race relationships, and challenges for blacks trying to achieve success.  He opposed racial injustice received by African-Americans.  He did not shy away from topics such as lynching, rape mob violence, and white supremacy.  He would counter the depiction of African-Americans in white movies.

Micheaux passed away in March 1951 in North Carolina and is buried in Great Bend, Kansas.

His film Body and Soul was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.  He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1987.