Jane Manning James comes to life

She was a virtual shadow in the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but time, social evolution and a team dedicated to telling her story are bringing Jane Manning James to life.

James was an early convert to the LDS Church, and traveled hundreds of miles on foot from the East Coast to Nauvoo, Ill., where she was taken into church founder Joseph Smith's household. The first African American woman to come to the Utah Territory as a Mormon pioneer, she petitioned early LDS leaders for temple privileges in the 19th century.

Her faithful adherence to church doctrine and activity despite repeated rejection has won her belated acclaim from contemporary Latter-day Saints who learn her story.

While a trilogy of historical fiction recently published by Deseret Book fleshed out many details of her life, a chance meeting with one of her descendants has provided greater richness, much of which is chronicled in a new documentary.

"Jane Manning James: Your Sister in the Gospel," premiered two weeks ago during a showing at This is the Place Heritage Park, and was shown Thursday during the annual conference of the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR).

The 20-minute film features details of James' life as told through footage prepared for promotion of the book trilogy and photographs provided by a recently discovered descendant of James. Three young women who have portrayed James' character discuss the impact she has had on their lives.

Margaret Young, co-author of the "Standing on the Promises" trilogy that chronicled James' life, said the film came together when one of James' descendants — Lewis Duffy — approached two LDS missionaries on the street in Los Angeles.

"He told them his great grandparents were Mormon pioneers, then took them inside his home and showed them some of the things that belonged to Jane."

One of the missionaries had seen a stage play Young had written about James called, "I Am Jane," and was able to tell Duffy about the trilogy of books that chronicled the life of his ancestor. Duffy immediately ordered them and immersed himself in the story that Young and co-author Darius Gray had crafted.

Duffy then wrote to the president of the Salt Lake-based Genesis organization for African American Latter-day Saints, who forwarded his letter on to the authors. Young contacted Duffy, learning that he had become the repository for James' family photos, maps and artifacts. It was an unexpected treasure trove of information that answered many of the questions Young had been researching.

James had only two children who survived long enough to have families of their own, Esther and Sylvester — the latter from which Duffy is descended.