JOHNSON CITY — A free public screening of the 1920 film “Within Our Gates” will be held Saturday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. at Tipton Gallery, 126 Spring St.

The event is sponsored by the Film Studies Program in East Tennessee State University’s Department of Literature and Language as part of an Appalachian Silent Cinema and Old-Time/Bluegrass Screening Series. It is being held in partnership with the Tipton Gallery’s Umoja Festival exhibit.

In the film, an educated black woman is abandoned by her fiancé and dedicates herself to helping a near-bankrupt school for impoverished black youths.

It was directed by Oscar Micheaux, the first major African American feature filmmaker.

Following the screening, Dr. Daryl Carter, a professor of history at ETSU, will discuss early race relations in Appalachia in line with the themes of the film.

Live music will be performed by faculty members Roy Andrade and Kalia Yeagle of the Bluegrass, Old-Time and Country Music Studies program in ETSU’s Department of Appalachian Studies.

For more information, contact Dr. Matthew Holtmeier, ETSU assistant professor of English and co-director of the film studies minor, at 423-439-4339 or holtmeier@etsu.edu.