GTTS- Bijou Theatre

Going to the Show: Lesson Plans

Exploring the early North Carolina moving picture theater experience in the early 1900s through the Bijou Theatre, Wilmington, North Carolina's first moving picture theater

Introduction | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Final Project | Learn More

Day 1: Activity 1

To begin the discussion, let the students know that you will be spending the next couple of days learning about moviegoing in the early 1900's in Wilmington, North Carolina, and also learning how to use photographs and news clippings as primary sources. Explain to the students that you will be using aspects of a digital collection that has been developed that focuses on moviegoing in the early 1900's for the state of North Carolina that includes visual images, architectural drawings, newspaper articles and advertisements, and Sanborn maps; as well as slides from the Dr. Robert M. Fales Collection, who had a personal project to capture "old street scenes and hallowed local structures of yesteryear" of "old Wilmington and its environs."

Note: The Going to the Show collection also includes Sanborn Maps, which provide a geographical reference for a city across time. While not included as part of the student activities in this lesson, they are included as a teacher reference. For a student lesson that explores the Sanborn maps, refer to the Evolution of Personal Transportation.

Next, ask some questions to get students thinking and talking about photography as an historical source, such as:

Why do people take pictures?
Why do people save pictures?
What can you learn from photographs?
What historical insights can you glean from photographs?

Next ask some questions to get students thinking and talking about their general experience and familiarity with going to the movies today. Ask questions that will prompt them to consider how the experience might have been different in the early 1900's:

Describe the movie theater you see a movie in today - how is the building constructed, how is it outfitted, what is the heating/ventilation/cooling like?

Where do you encounter movies today?
Where do you "go" to see movies today?
- Note: students may travel no farther than the desk in their room to watch a movie on their computer.
How far do you go to see a movie today?
How do you travel to see a movie today?
How far in advance do you plan to go see a movie today?
How much does it cost to see a movie?
How many movies will an individual theater show?
How many screens are in an individual theater today?
How often do you go to the movie?
How often do you see movies? (may be in venues other than theater)
How frequently does a movie theater change its programming?
Consider the movie itself - things like sound, color ... not to mention all of the digital special effects used
How long does a movie last?

Activity 1: Analyzing the first image together:
Students can complete a photo-analysis worksheet, or you can provide them with a questionnaire that includes the basic questions you want to cover.

Next, introduce the students to the process you'll follow for analyzing images by analyzing the first photograph as a class. Using a digital video projector or an overhead transparency, show the first photograph of the Bijou Theater.

http://docsouth.unc.edu/gtts/content/2403

The photo is of the Bijou Theatre (pronounced bye-joe), the first movie theater in Wilmington, and one of the first in North Carolina, which opened in December 1906.

NOTE: When possible, teachers and students should access the photo online, as their websites often provide utilities to zoom-in on the photograph.

Ask students questions about the photo, interjecting your own observations and follow-up questions as needed to keep pushing them further with their analyses. Questions to consider asking (note that these questions go from objective questions about simple observations to questions that are more and more interpretive, speculative and analytical):

What do you see in this picture? (It may be helpful to direct the students to look at the picture top to bottom and left to right, noticing every detail, or to encourage them to think about a tic-tac-toe grid superimposed on the image and think about each section independently so that they focus on the details rather than the overall impression.)
What people are in this picture? How many men? women? boys? girls? How old are they? What are they wearing? How are they positioned?
What objects are in this picture? Are they old or new? Are they well-cared for? Are they expensive or inexpensive? Handmade, from nature, or store-bought?
Are there any animals in this picture? If so, what do you notice about them?
When do you think this picture was taken? What year? What time of year? How can you tell? (Teacher NOTE: the news clippings and the stories about the theater tell when the "tent" theater opened, December, 1906, and when a new "permanent" building was opened in May, 1912 ... so the only thing you know is that it was taken between December, 1906 and May, 1912)
What can you tell about the building or objects in this picture and their relationship to any people in the image.
What do you think is the relationship between the people in the picture? What makes you think so? Are these people rich, poor or in the middle? What do you think they do for a living? How can you tell? Are they happy? Do they like each other? What kind of life do you think they have? What details in the image lead you to draw these conclusions?
What is your overall impression from this picture? What is the "mood" of the image? If you didn't know anything else about these people or this place or this object other than what you see here, what would you conclude about them/it?
What do you think happened right before this picture was taken? Right after? What would you imagine the rest of the day (before and after) was like, and was it a typical day?
Why do you think this picture was taken? What was the photographer's objective? What was the photographer trying to convey? Do you think this was a formal photo or a candid photo? What makes you think that? Do you think the photographer arranged/posed the people and things in this picture? What makes you think the picture was posed or not posed? If so, why do you think he posed them this way?
What can you ascertain about going to a movie at the Bijou Theatre by looking at this photo?
- How much did a movie cost?
- Who was their intended audience? Age? Income Level/Class? Gender? Race?
- From the photo - you can only see "Family Theatre"
- Supplemental teacher background: (From Robert Allen:) The Bijou Theatre appears to have admitted African Americans from its opening day. The experience of the Bijou and of downtown Wilmington more generally for African Americans, however, was very different than that for white Wilmingtonians. Following a social practice that had been in place in Wilmington for more than 25 years and would endure until the 1960s, Howard and Wells admitted African Americans only to a separate seating section. Like many other early downtown theaters across the South, the Bijou did not advertise its racial admission policy or refer to it in the newspaper ads. African Americans would have learned of it from direct experience and from that of their neighbors and friends - as a part of the rigidly segregated spaces that made up the social landscape of Wilmington in 1906-1907. ... The Bijou was the first commercial entertainment venue in Wilmington to admit African Americans to all performances.
  - Allen, Robert C. "Going to the Show." Documenting the American South. University Library, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 2009. http://docsouth.unc.edu/gtts/.
  - For the full list of Professor Allen's essays on [early Wilmington theaters], go to http://docsouth.unc.edu/gtts/search/facet?ctype=Commentary.
- Supplements overview of segregation introduced in textbook: A Journey Through North Carolina, pp 282-287.
- What movies are being shown? (Teacher Note: can't tell from the photo, but the news clippings and advertisements provide additional information .... starts prompting students to think about how multiple sources can be used together)
- How frequently are movies shown? (Teacher Note: can't tell from the photo, but the news clippings provide additional information)
- How long did a movie last? What did you get for your admission? (Teacher Note: can't tell from the photo, but the news clippings and advertisements may provide additional information)
- How frequently do you think someone went to a movie?
- What construction material was the movie theater building made of? How would this affect the movie attending experience? Prompt students with the fact that the Bijou opened in December, 1906 (winter). What would it have been like in the summer? Why do you think this construction material was chosen?
  - Teacher note: The photo caption notes that it was a "tent" .... and you can also tell the class that it was indeed made of canvas (and is documented on the Sanborn map). What you actually see in the photo is the wooden "sham" front of the Bijou, rather than the canvas tent behind it - done so it would blend in with the other, more permanent buildings on this block of N. Front Street.
  - Supplemental teacher background: (From Robert Allen:) The Bijou's proprietors, Percy Wells and James Howard, came from professional backgrounds in circus and carnival. Percy Wells (1880-1953) was a aerialist (a tightrope walker) who performed as "The Great Percino" in traveling shows around the country. James "Foxy" Howard (1867-1938) also spent his early years traveling with various carnivals. Because of their experience performing under canvas, Howard and Wells were familiar with the use of tents as seasonal or temporary spaces for staging entertainment. Before locating to Wilmington, Howard was associated with several shows which were being displayed under canvas, such as "The Great Train Robbery," "Bold Bank Robber," and others. Eager to take advantage of the approaching holiday shopping season, and an ideal location on North Front Street, they erected a tent at 205 North Front Street. To make the Bijou look a bit more substantial and to fit in with the surrounding structures, they added a wooden "sham" facade to the tent.
- Can you tell anything about the interior of the movie theater building? How was it outfitted? (Teacher Note: can't tell from the photo, but the news clippings may provide additional information).
- Where do you think this movie theater is located e.g. in a city center, in the country, outside the city center? (can't tell from the photo - but can tell from the Sanborn maps - not really part of this lesson, but as the teacher you might want to open up the Sanborn map and show them the location in the city).
  - Supplemental resource/teacher demonstration: Bring up the Sanborn map for Wilmington for 1904, zoom in on N. Front Street near the Bijou Theatre "ticket" icon (http://docsouth.unc.edu/gtts/map/?city=wilmington). N. Front Street between Grace/Mulberry (on north) and Dock (on the south) was the center of the Wilmington business district. Note, in 1904 the Bijou location was in an empty lot.
  1904:Bijou Theatre: vacant lot ( http://docsouth.unc.edu/gtts/map/?city=wilmington)
  
  1910: Bijou Theatre: canvas construction, sawdust floor (yellow) http://docsouth.unc.edu/gtts/map/?city=wilmington)
  - What types of businesses are next door and across the street from this theater?
    - Supplemental resource/teacher demonstration: Pan around the map and take a look at the types of merchants and proprietors that are located around the theater ... such as the Western Union Telegraph Office and a Bicycles and Jewelry store (just north), Wholesale Dry Goods merchant across the street, a bank across the street, and the Cape Fear Club. (From Robert Allen:) "One of Wilmington's most prestigious social institutions and one of the oldest men's social clubs in the South" - see photograph here: http://wwwtmpapps.nhcgov.com/lib/history/fales/pages/slides/1213.htm), just south of the theater site. Advance to the 1910 map --- while this is a few years after the theater has opened, it's not out of realm of possibility that the photo was taken at this time, because the theater building is illustrated in yellow - and documents Canvas and Wood construction with a Sawdust Floor. You now see across the street a Department Store, and some new buildings added - the Eagles Club and the Shoe store.
  - How would someone get to the movie theater? (photo shows a bicycle ... how far could someone travel by bicycle, how far could someone travel by foot?
    - Supplemental resource: Refer to Oral History Interview with Murphy Yomen Sigmon regarding his moviegoing experience in Hickory, North Carolina: http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/H-0142/excerpts/excerpt_5342.html . He lived within walking distance of the theater.
    - This can be found with the essay on the "Highlights" web page in the Documenting the American South website; http://docsouth.unc.edu/highlights/moviegoing.html
  - What additional historical questions about the time and moviegoing does this question prompt?

You may want to capture the students' responses and impressions on a flip chart - so that you'll have their initial reactions captured to revisit as you proceed through the following activities.

Lesson plan created by Lisa Speaker

Introduction | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Final Project | Learn More