Gloria J. Gibson provides the most insightful pieces of research into the Gists' life, particularly Eloyce's. According to Gibson, Eloyce Gist was born in Texas in 1892, with Washington, D.C. becoming her home not long after the turn of the century. She attended Howard University. Eloyce's thinking about religion is said to reflect her own beliefs in Baha'i and that of James, her Christian self-ordained evangelist husband. Eloyce worked in partnership with her husband, and his contributions to their filmmaking are undisputed, if not precisely known. However, the silent film Hellbound Train is viewed as being significantly Eloyce's as the script is largely hers, as are several scenes which she arranged the shooting of. The Gists made films, not for entertainment, but as a teaching tool to aid in their ministry. The duo traveled from Black church to Black church, by auto, with their films and equipment. When Gibson interviewed Eloyce's 82-year-old daughter, Homoiselle Patrick Harrison, in the early 1990s, Harrison recalled how the couple screened their films: Eloyce would play the piano and lead the congregation in hymns. Then, the film would be shown, followed by a sermonette by James Gist. Tickets were either sold in advance, or a collection was taken at the close of the service, with the Gists and the church splitting the money. The Gists' films were well received, even drawing the attention of the NAACP in 1933, when the organization contacted the couple to offer their endorsement of the efforts.
[...] After the death of her husband, Eloyce continued to tour, "traveling with the films, a projector, and an assistant for a while, but soon realized she couldn't shoulder the diverse responsibilities alone. The work of programmer, manager, and exhibitor was too taxing." More, sound had made the silent film obsolete, making way for efforts such as [Spencer] Williams'. Eloyce died in 1974. The magnitude of her accomplishments can be measured today by the condition of her films. According to the Library of Congress, showing the films so often took their toll: "The movies were so widely shown that they literally fell apart along the splices and were received by the Library in hundreds of short fragments."
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