A Brigham Young Uni-versity professor's video documentary on the lives of four generations of Utah women in three families has received one of 12 national Best of Show awards from the Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television.
Marie Cornwall, a professor of sociology and executive producer of the documentary, received the award for "Utah Women Considered: Changing Lives, Changing Times."Louise Degn of the communications faculty at the University of Utah was the producer and writer. Corporate spokeswoman Shelley Thomas, a former news broadcaster, was the video's host.
The Utah video was also awarded a Commendation Award by the foundation, which 21 years ago created the awards to encourage the positive and realistic portrayal of women in radio and tele-vision. This year 47 awards were granted.
Produced in 1995, "Utah Women Considered" was broadcast on KUED-TV in Salt Lake City.
"The film is, in part, a Utah centennial project," said Corn-wall, "exploring how the lives of Utah women have changed since Utah became a state. It focuses on work, education, family, culture, health and modern life."
The story is told through the lives of four generations of three families - Ute Indian, Mexican-American and white Mormon - three prominent cultural groups in Utah. "While chronicling the changing lives and times of Utah women, the program explores universal issues ranging from education and aging to family and professional life," she said.
Cornwall began work on the film when she was named to the Belle S. Spafford Chair at the U. two years ago. "Spafford was the former president of the Relief Society of the LDS Church for 30 years," she explains. "During that time, she was elected president of the National Council of Women and was a strong advocate for women. So as part of my appointment, I was expected to engage in some type of project that encourages the community to think about women and children."
With a grant from the Utah Humanities Council, the video has been distributed to all Utah high school and city and county libraries. To go along with the video, Cornwall also produced a booklet that recounts through statistics the changing lives of Utah Women.
For copies of the video and the booklet, "Utah Women Considered: What the Numbers Tell Us," contact the BYU Women's Research Institute at 378-4609.