Melvyn Stokes > Quotes

“On a more minor factual note, the burning of crosses was not a part of the ritual of the Reconstruction-era Klan. It was imagined by Thomas Dixon Jr., who in turn may have plagiarized it from the work of Sir Walter Scott, especially The Lady of the Lake”
― Melvyn Stokes, D.W. Griffith's the Birth of a Nation: A History of the Most Controversial Motion Picture of All Time

“Goldstein remains the only film director ever to have been sent to jail for producing a spectacular and patriotic epic on the subject of the American Revolution.”
― Melvyn Stokes, D.W. Griffith's the Birth of a Nation: A History of the Most Controversial Motion Picture of All Time

“The willingness of black Bostonians to organize, lobby, attend mass meetings (at least eighteen of these were held), and sign petitions suggests that the Birth of a Nation controversy had a major impact locally in terms of the promotion of racial solidarity.”
― Melvyn Stokes, D.W. Griffith's the Birth of a Nation: A History of the Most Controversial Motion Picture of All Time