Annie's Childhood

In the movie The Music Man there is a sign hung up somewhere advertising the picnic "Across the creek from the pesthouse". The pesthouse in question would have been where people were put for whom there was no other official place for them to be. Annie Sullivan as an orphaned Irish blind child would have been in one of these places.She would have been housed with people who were unable to function because of psychiatric disorders, severe brain damage from lifelong alcoholism,physical handicaps. Mental non function because of illnesses for which there were not drugs available yet to treat them. As well being both young and small if there were any child molesters in the gang she and her brother would have been prime candidates for attention from these people. She says in the movie that Helen is tough enough and doesn't need to be housed in one of these places in order to toughen her up. She knew what she was talking about.