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Home > Documentaries >

When My Work Is Over:
The Life and Stories of Louise Anderson

Louise Anderson
Louise Anderson (1921-1994), the gifted African American storyteller who played Dark Sally in Ashpet, tells her family stories and folk tales, and recites poetry in this film taped in Jacksonville, North Carolina, in the last years of her life. She presents a powerful portrait of courage, dignity, and lively humor in the face of serious illness. Her sisters Evelyn Anderson and Dorothy McLeod join Louise in recalling their experiences growing up in the South, working in restaurants and as domestics in white households, and struggling for civil rights in the early 1960s. Together they present a warm and engaging picture of an unsung generation of Southern black women.

Directed by Tom Davenport and produced by Davenport Films and Daniel Patterson and Beverly Patterson.

(39 minutes · Closed Captioned)