Commentaries
Dr. Robert C. Allen, James Logan Godfrey Distinguished Professor of American Studies, History,
and Communications Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has provided
extensive commentary exploring various topics around moviegoing.
Wilmington 1906/07
Wilmington 1906/07, is a 13-part essay that describes the location of Wilmington's first movie theater, The Bijou, as well as the social climate at the time.
This essay creates a vivid picture of the changing atmosphere in downtown Wilmington at the end of 1906.
Wilmington Timeline
The Wilmington timeline chronicles 26 movie theaters in Wilmington, North Carolina. Using a timeline as the index
to these commentaries, you are able to get a birds-eye view of the film climate in Wilmington from the beginning of
early film in 1897 until desegregation in 1954.
Joyland Theatre Ledger
The Cape Fear Museum of Science and History (Wilmington, NC) has preserved the manager's ledger for the Joyland over
a 15-week period of the theater's operation, from September 28, 1910, to January 14, 1911. The information we find
here provides us with a rare glimpse into the operation of early storefront theaters.
Lesson Plans
Lesson Plans
5 Lesson plans for various grades within K-12 have been created to accompany Going to the Show;
focusing on history, maps, image analysis, and work with primary resources.
