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Ten Sisters, The Movie
 “I can’t believe all the work that goes into making a movie. And I can’t believe they’re doing it to tell our story!” said Delores Waggoner Hart during the filming of a PBS documentary based on the Waggoner sisters’ book, Ten Sisters: A True Story (Mayhaven Publishing).
The Waggoner sisters were taken from their parents and separated from one another by the state of Illinois in 1942. Eventually, five of the sisters came to live at Cunningham Children’s Home. Each of the sisters narrates a chapter of Ten Sisters, sharing happy and difficult memories of their childhoods, of their beloved mother and two brothers, and of their time in foster homes and at Cunningham.
In 1995, the sisters finally reunited. In the children’s version of their story, Ten Little Sisters (Mayhaven Publishing), they wrote, “Getting to know one another again makes us happy.”
The PBS documentary about their story, produced by WILL-TV in Urbana, is planned to air in late 2006. The cast and crew invited the five sisters who still live in Illinois to join them on the set as they reenacted events that took place at the Mattoon County Courthouse and at Cunningham Children’s Home, among other locations.
 When Delores (Dodo), Irma, Jenny, Vera, and Bede first arrived on set, the girls who play them in the documentary rushed up to meet them. The sisters signed autographs, answered questions, and listened happily as the actresses sang “You Are My Sunshine,” one of the sisters’ favorite childhood songs.
The actresses immediately bonded with their real-life namesakes, exchanging hugs and addresses to keep in touch. The Waggoner sisters invited the actresses to their next family reunion so that their remaining three sisters could meet the girls who will play them in the movie.
 When the actress playing their mother, Ruth, arrived for a scene at Cunningham, Dodo, Irma, Jenny, Vera and Bede gathered around her to give her hugs. Vera turned to a Cunningham staff member and said, “mom would be very happy today.”
Sadly, two of the Waggoner sisters, Margie and Phyllis, have passed away since 1999. But the remaining eight sisters remember their time with them as “precious,” and look forward to each annual family reunion as a time when their families can reunite once again.
Copies of Ten Sisters can be purchased online from major booksellers, or may be purchased at our administrative offices, 1301 North Cunningham Avenue, Urbana. We will be sure to announce when the PBS documentary is set to air closer to that date.
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