“The Wisdom of Our Years”, produced by Phyllis Caruth and originally screened in 2008, is a documentary whose aim was to tell how far we’ve come as we strive to live the dream articulated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that all be judged “not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

The film presents the stories of women now passed whose career choices were once limited to domestic service, and men now passed who could aspire to no higher career path than where a train might take them. All are part of Utah’s unique and little-known Black American History.

The people of this documentary:
*a woman in her late 80’s who provided a foster home to over one hundred young people
*a man who was well acquainted with the color line during his military service
*a family who had the courage to move from Evergreen Avenue (where several Black American families lived) to an upper-class White American area where they were alone

“The Wisdom of Our Years” addresses the difficulties of racism and discrimination in the post-World War II period of Utah, a time when Black Americans comprised less than 1% of the total population.

First screened on 10 February 2008, the film has not been publicly viewed until a requested private screening was held for Hill Air Force Base in February 2022. Now during Women’s Month, two public screenings will be held. A Post-Film Discussion/Q&A will be held following each screening.