Most can recite the plot of the Wizard of Oz. The movie is a staple on television. Few know what went into the story “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” by L.
Frank Baum, considered America’s First Fairytale. Laura Keyes, a librarian from Illinois, separated fact from fiction Friday morning, during her presentation First Friday: This Historical Wizard of Oz. Keyes portrays historical women and does research into literary symbolism.
She has a wide array of lecture topics and will be returning to the Burlington Public Library in March 2025 for her presentation on Elizabeth Packard. From information found on Keyes website, Packard was committed to the Illinois State Hospital (the state mental asylum) in 1860 and was kept under lock and key for three years, all the while protesting her sanity. While her husband, Theophilus, insisted to everyone – Elizabeth’s children, extended family, neighbors, friends, and the asylum employees – that she was, in fact, insane, Elizabeth was able to obtain her release.
But her battle did not stop there. Conscious of the fact that the current law allowed married women to be placed in asylums by their husbands without the benefit of a formal trial or medical examination, Elizabeth started a campaign to change that unjust law. Her presentation Friday focused on Lyman Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and the literary symbolism and themes found in the novel.
Keyes also spoke about the collaboration between Baum and William Walla.