The National Museum of African American History and Culture recognizes Madeline Anderson as the first African American woman to direct a televised documentary film. Anderson and her work are credited with paving the way for black women in the television industry, but many Lancaster residents may be unaware that she also grew up in Lancaster city. The renowned filmmaker is an alumna of McCaskey High School and Millersville University, and she went on to achieve national acclaim in her career.

On Sept. 23, LancasterHistory, 230 N. President Ave., Lancaster, held a film screening of two documentaries directed by Anderson. The first film, titled "Integration Report One," was released in 1960, and it depicts the battle for racial equality in various cities across the United States. The second film, titled "I Am Somebody," was released in 1970 to capture the troubles of black women who fought for better working conditions at a hospital in Charleston, S.C.

Shianne Hargrove, an information specialist at LancasterHistory, had the idea to feature Anderson's work while she was working on a project for the organization's Collections Up Close program in February. Collections Up Close is a series that offers tours to focus on specific items from LancasterHistory's archive; during the tours, staff members and visiting scholars provide additional information on the historical relevance of each item. The goal of Hargrove's project was to highlight black individuals from Lancaster who became accomplished artists, directors or actors. Hargrove was already familiar with Anderson's work, but she rediscovered it in her research and embarked on a quest to find copies of Anderson's documentaries. After six months of hard work and research, Hargrove located copies of the films with the help of Mabel Rosenheck, LancasterHistory's director of education and exhibition planning.

"I was a fan of (Anderson's) work already - I had seen her documentaries in college - but realizing that she was a local black female filmmaker made me feel closer to her," Hargrove said. "I also graduated from McCaskey and Millersville. It became more real to me since she existed here in Lancaster, and she made these amazing documentaries that will be housed in the Smithsonian Institution."

Anderson now resides in Brooklyn, but she virtually attended the film screening for a question-and-answer session where she explained her motivation to become a filmmaker. "When I started going to the movies when I was 7 years old, I saw the stereotype of Hollywood's notion of black people. We were always stupid. We were always shuffling along," Anderson told the audience. "It was my childish idea that I would become a filmmaker and show black people as they really were to mitigate the terrible image of us that Hollywood had on the screen."

Hargrove hopes to digitize some of Anderson's work for LancasterHistory's collections in addition to materials that document her early life in Lancaster. Beginning on Friday, Nov. 17, Anderson will be featured among other artists in the exhibit "Black Lancastrians in the Arts: A Lasting Legacy" at LancasterHistory. For more information, visit http://www.lancasterhistory.org.