Oz for Silent Saturday and Old Timey Franklin Nostalgia for Mother’s Day

Top left, a scene from The Wizard of Oz from 1910; on the right, an image of the Franklin children, circa 1910.

Two special programs will bring the Franklin Historical Museum to life this weekend, back-to-back silent versions of The Wizard of Oz, Saturday evening at 6 p.m. and 1 p.m. on Mother’s Day, the second Sunday lecture series will feature the centennial images of Franklin created by photographer Nathan Wales.

A silent Oz Saturday…

The ongoing Silent Saturday film series curated by Chris Leverone in cooperation with the Franklin Senior Center. This week’s films were born from the fertile mind of author L. Frank Baum, and the first of two 1910 Wizard of Oz films was produced under his direction. A still from this film is shown above. It’s very short, just over 12 minutes, but has many familiar story elements. Next, the 1925 film The Wizard of Oz is described by Wikipedia as a “silent fantasy adventure comedy film” directed by Larry Semon, who also stars as a Kansas farmhand disguised as a scarecrow.

The production is the only adaptation completed in the 1920s of Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and stars Dorothy Dwan as Dorothy, Oliver Hardy as the Tin Woodman, and Curtis McHenry in brief disguise in Lion less “cowardly” than in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer version of Baum’s work. It lasts about an hour and a half. The program is free.

Second Sunday Lecture Series – Glass Negatives by Nathan Wales

Historical Commission Vice Chair Mary Olsson will present a stunning collection of historic images. At the turn of the 20th century, Nathan S. Wales, of Franklin, was a professional photographer active throughout the region, including Foxboro, Marstons Mills, Medway, Milford, Plainville, Sheldonville, St. Johns, Upton and Wrentham.

The subjects he photographed include group portraits, landscapes, street scenes and people participating in various recreational activities. In 2021, this vast collection was put up for auction and private city parties recovered hundreds of Franklin images, many of which will be shown on Sunday, along with the handwritten descriptions found on the envelopes that protected the negatives on original glass for over a century. . Doors open at 1 p.m. and the event officially begins at 1:15 p.m. There are no entry fees.

The museum is accessible to people with disabilities. The museum is also open to visitors on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is located at 80 West Central St.