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.

Little by little, as Young and Duffy built a friendship over the phone, Duffy sent Young copies of pictures that help chronicle James' life and that of her posterity. He also has a copy of a small book written about black history in Utah, of which only three copies are believed to exist.

Young said Brigham Young University Special Collections curators got wind of the materials and offered to buy them from Duffy, but he declined to sell them.

"I believe at some point they will be donated, but we don't know where yet."

The richness of the details and photos Duffy was able to provide spurred Young contact documentary filmmaker Scott Freebairn to produce the film.

Young said the film places James in the historical context of her time, the Second Great Awakening, when major religious figures and new faith traditions — Joseph Smith and the LDS Church among them — emerged with the westward expansion of the United States. James was a contemporary of Sojourner Truth, who is "known to everybody," Young said. "Because Jane wasn't a great speaker for or against slavery, she came West and had a remarkable life, though she is not known widely outside this area."

Young said James could read but not write, so she dictated her life story, to be read at her funeral. She also left behind letters she had dictated, addressed to top LDS leaders, asking that she be granted the right to participate in LDS temple rites.

"It's phenomenal to have this kind of material from black person of that century." With the materials in hand, Young wrote the script and the narration, and Freebairn pieced together the film footage. Neither of them had funding, so they donated their services as a labor of love for a woman they both came to respect greatly, Young said.

The film is due to be distributed by Deseret Book in the near future.

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E-mail: carrie@desnews.com