1915:  Birth of a Nation Released

Birth of a Nation was released in Atlanta, Georgia.  The film was directed by D. W. Griffith and based on the novel The Clansman, written by Thomas Dixon.  The film was supposed to represent the South after the Civil War.  It glorified the Ku Klux Klan and belittled African Americans.  The film created a false picture of Reconstruction by portraying African Americans as dominating the Southern Caucasian populace and sexually forcing themselves upon Caucasian women.  The Klan was depicted as the savior of the south.

Cited by:  www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow