SOURCE: "Identity and Betrayal: 'The Symbol of the Unconquered' and Oscar Micheaux's Biographical Legend," in The Birth of Whiteness: Race and the Emergence of U.S. Cinema, edited by Daniel Bernardi, Rutgers University Press, 1996, pp. 56-80.

In the following essay, Bowser and Spence discuss the interrelationships between what is known about Micheaux's life, the ways in which he mythologized his life in his creative works, and the significance of his novels and films as documents of the African American social experience.

The Symbol of the Unconquered, the latest and the best of the Micheaux productions, will open a six day showing at the Vendome Theater on Monday January 10th [1921]. This feature has been creating a wonderful amount of comment all over the East and is one which should be seen by everybody. The story is a clean-cut one and the action is full of speed, interesting and exciting...