Review: Ann & Hope Documentary
I had been meaning to watch the Ann & Hope Documentary by David Lawlor from Run of the Mill, which debuted on YouTube in August 2023, and I finally got around to doing it! This fact-paced film gave the history of the three iterations of Ann & Hope — a boat, a mill, and a department store chain — through twelve chapters, with plenty of interviews, drone shots, music, and animation segments. Rhode Islanders who grew up near an Ann & Hope store will have the chance to reminisce, historians will enjoy the fact-packed content, and cinefiles will appreciate the clever editing.
After an opening music video, “Chapter 1: The Creation of the Blackstone River Valley” and “Chapter 2: William Blackstone” focused on the history of the Blackstone valley before the Industrial Revolution. The film introduced park rangers Allison Horrocks (who frequent readers of the blog will remember from Parked at Home) and Kevin Klyberg of Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park, who were interviewed on a green couch inside the now abandoned Ann & Hope Mill. The Blackstone area takes its name from a reclusive English colonist who once had the largest library in America before his house was burned down during King Philip’s War.
“Chapter 3: The Longsdale Company” explained the origin of the name “Ann & Hope ”. This was originally a ship owned by Nicholas Brown, Jr. and his brother-in-law Thomas Ives, which they had named after their wives. The business partners made their fortunes in global trade and employed Wilbur Kelly as a captain for one of their ships. When trade became unsafe or illegal after the Napoleonic wars, they during mills and transportation.
“Chapter 4: Investing in Textiles” and “Chapter 5: Ann & Hope Mill” covered the building of mills and a mill town in Lincoln, RI, along with the lives of everyday mill workers. Wilbur Kelly served as a front man buying 450 acres of land on behalf of the brothers-in-law, while the grave of William Blackstone was moved in 1886 to provide space for a 50,000 square foot mill. Naturally, the crown jewel of the company was named after the wives of the owners. As for the mill workers, many were farmers unused to a system where they were paid in cash instead of bartering, but they were willing to give up personal freedom for security.
“Chapter 6: Fatality at the Ann & Hope Mill” and “Chapter 7: Child Labor at Ann & Hope” showed the dangers of working in a mill. A boiler explosion in 1896 caused severe injuries of workers and the death of a fireman. Lewis Wickes Hine photographed the children and teenagers who worked in mills around the United States, including Ann & Hope.
By the 1910s, the New England textile industry was failing. “Chapter 8: Industrial Decline” and “Chapter 9: A Fighting Chance” showed how the shift from water power to steam and electrical power made riverside factories outmoded. With labor unions rising in the North, mill owners moved operations to the South where workers accepted lower wages. Some factories returned to life during the World Wars as companies took contracts to make war material. During this time, new train tracks were laid near the Ann & Hope Mill. The remains of William Blackstone were exhumed with the intention of interring him under a new stone on Broad Street, but his remains were lost in the middle of World War II, unrelated to the war itself.
The final three chapters dealt with the life of the mill building after its industrial use ended for good. “Chapter 10: Ann & Hope Retail” and “Chapter 11: The Great Flood” covered the transformation of the building from a manufacturing facility to a shopping center. Sam Walton visited the store as inspiration for WalMart. Among the most entertaining interviewees was Joseph Roszkowski, a former employee who worked during The Great Flood in August 1954. Ann & Hope grew into a successful chain, but competition from malls and other stores hurt business. “Chapter 12: Covid-19” revealed that like many enterprises, it closed due to the pandemic. Fortunately, ZDS Architecture plans to turn the massive building into a mixed-use development with 241 residential apartment units.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed watching the Ann & Hope Documentary. It gave me the chance to recap much of what I knew about the mill and Blackstone Valley along with providing first-person accounts of life in the area. I did occasionally struggle while reading the closed captioning, which did not always align to what I think was being said. A few shifts in background music felt abrupt, and I was momentarily distracted from the speaker. Even with these minor audio-visual complaints, this film was among the best regional documentaries I have watched. I look forward to future productions from Run of the Mill.
Watch the full documentary here: