Now recognized as the first documentary directed by an African American woman, Madeline Anderson's "Integration Report 1" examines the struggle for black equality in Alabama, Brooklyn and Washington, D.C., incorporating footage by documentary legends Albert Maysles and Ricky Leacock, protest songs by Maya Angelou, and a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. Initially intended as the first in a series of such "Integration Reports," Anderson's film stands as a testament to the courage of the workers and activists as well as her own bravery, tenacity and skill. The film was recently preserved by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Madeline Anderson
Pioneering filmmaker and television producer Madeline Anderson is often credited as being the first black woman to produce and direct a televised documentary film, the first black woman to produce and direct a syndicated TV series, the first black employee at New York-based public television station National Educational Television (WNET), and one of the first black women to join the film editor’s union. Anderson went on to become the in-house producer and director for “Sesame Street”. During the early 1970s, she also helped create what would become WHUT-TV, the country’s first, and only, black-owned public television station.
