While at Hollins, I had the privilege of doing an Independent Study project with Karen Coats, in which I explored Literary Orphans in Silent Film as a gateway into the world of Betty Bronson’s Peter Pan.

     Karen suggested I choose ten books and their corresponding silent films. I ended up choosing nine films, the theatrical version of Peter Pan, and a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

·      1887 Oliver Twist

·      1843 The Cry of the Children (poem)

·      1876 Tom Sawyer

·      1885 Little Lord Fauntleroy

·      1893 Captain January

·      1901 Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch

·      1903 Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

·      1905 A Little Princess

·      1911 Peter Pan (stage production)

·      1913 Pollyanna

In addition to the final paper, Karen wanted a reading journal and a film journal. In the reading journal, I summarized each chapter in the book, and in the film journal, I summarized each scene as delineated on the DVD. These journals proved valuable in organizing my notes and observations. This exploration into literary orphans in silent film helped me understand the impact pen and lens have had on society’s perception of orphans and the romanticized ideal of childhood. Silent film, in addition to giving ammunition to those in back of the movement garnering child labor reform, which didn’t happen until 1938, also served to perpetuate the idea of childhood as a time for a worry-free existence.