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A woman named Nellie Conley, a.k.a. Madame Sul-Te-Wan, became the first black actress contracted to appear in D.W. Griffith’s controversial 1915 film, “Birth of a Nation.” Her talent career would last for nearly 70 years.

 

The Louisville, Kentucky native was raised by her widowed single mother, who worked as a washerwoman in the white neighborhoods. As a child, she would accompany her mother to the Buckingham Theater to drop off laundry. Two of the white actresses allowed young Conley to watch the shows and eventually got her a talent show audition. Conley won the contest. after that, She took the stage name of Creole Nell.

 

As she got older, Creole Nell started her own company, the Black Four Hundred. It was later named the Rair Back Minstrels. She took on the name Madame Sul-Te-Wan and married. Her husband abandoned the Madame and her children, leaving them with nothing. She then took on stage jobs and doubled as a maid in California.

 

Her next stop – pleading for a role in D.W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation.” But like many of the black actors in the movie, her role was cut before final production. She teamed up with the other black actors and led a protest of the film’s showings.  Because of this, she was discharged from work. After filing suit against the film company, Madame Sul-Te-Wan won her job back and was reinstated.

 

She worked in film until her death in 1959.