Local film tells the tragic true story of infant deaths in Little Kentucky

MANSFIELD — When Robin Hawkins was a little girl, her house was the only one on her road with indoor plumbing. 

“Probably until I was about 8 years old, the backs of the houses were just dotted with outhouses,” she recalled. 

Hawkins was born in Mansfield in 1964 and grew up on Priar Road, an area known to many as “Little Kentucky.”

For years, there were parts of her family story she learned not to ask about — an uncle who perished after an affair gone wrong, a baby who had died not long after her grandparents arrived in Ohio.

“There was a lot of taboo topics, things that we just didn’t talk about because they made our moms too sad, made my grandma too sad,” Hawkins said. 

That all changed during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hawkins began researching her family’s history and asking her relatives about the stories long kept under wraps.

“I approached my mom (and said), ‘If you don’t start telling us about this, this is going to die with you,'” Hawkins recalled. “The history, the stories, the legacy, the memories — they’re going to die with you and your siblings.”

It worked. Hawkins started interviewing her mother and aunts about their lives. She researched the neighborhood’s history in local newspapers.

The stories she uncovered were so fascinating, she started a podcast called Watered-Down Women to share them.

“As I started peeling off the layers, it led to one story and another,” Hawkins said. “As macabre as it is, as sad as it is, I’m preserving our family’s legacy.”

Next month, one of those stories will finally be told on the big screen.

Summer of Sorrow was filmed on location in Little Kentucky, where a detached garage was converted into a one-room house. The cast and crew donated their time, earning only meals while the movie was filmed. 

The movie takes viewers back to 1949, the year Henry and Sarah Adkins moved onto Priar Road. 

Hawkins’ grandparents brought five children with them. Within days of arriving in Mansfield, their youngest child Scotty became lethargic and fussy. He died not long after at just 4 months old.

The Richland County Coroner determined Scotty had died of a gastrointestinal infection. Just two days after his death, a local newspaper ran an article quoting the county health commissioner, who stated that nearly 10,000 people living on “the fringes” of the city lacked adequate sewage services, which could lead to an outbreak of gastrointestinial disease.

By the end of July, three other neighborhood babies had perished. Local health officials closed several neighborhood wells and sprayed the neighborhood with DDT.

It wasn’t until a child outside the Hanna Road neighborhood died that the city and county issued a probe into the outbreak. Nurses from the county health department began visiting Little Kentucky families, teaching them how to wash their hands, dispose of diapers and clean baby bottles. 

Hawkins’ mother, Evelyn Simmons, said neighborhood residents were insulted.

“(The county health department) was trying to make it out like all these kids just died because of hillbilly neglect,” she said. “They thought it was low-class people and that they ought to go on back where they come from.”

Meanwhile, neighbors blamed the Adkins family for the outbreak. They criticized the family for bringing a sick baby and mysterious illness into town.

A total of nine babies died that summer, nearly all of whom lived within walking distance of the Adkins family. While it was never proven, Hawkins believes the cause was lack of proper water and sewer facilities in the area. Wells were few and far between, so some neighborhood families dug their own. 

The city put more wells in the neighborhood in 1951. Hawkins’ childhood home was finally connected to city water and sewer in 1978.

Simmons said her mother never fully recovered from the loss of her fifth child. 

“I think Mom lost a part of herself during that,” she said. “She did get better, as time went along.”

Sarah went on to have eight more children before her death from cancer at the age of 42. Henry became a crane operator and was well-respected in his field, in spite of having just a third-grade education. 

Nicholas Adkins, who plays his grandfather Henry in the film, said the story remains relevant nearly 75 years later.

“Even in today’s times with places like Flint, Michigan and East Palestine, it’s the same issue going on,” he said.

“It’s these lower-class, disenfranchised people that are looked at more like a burden than members of society.”

Summer of Sorrow is told from Simmons’ childhood perspective. The cast includes Aly Racer as Evvy, Ashlee Lawhorn as Sarah Adkins and local actors Kevin Hutchinson, Beau Roberts, Fallon Flannery and Lori Cope.

Simmons said she’s glad the story of summer 1949 is finally being told — not only for her family’s sake, but for all nine families impacted.

“Nobody got closure,” she said. “I know it’s too late, the main ones that needed it were gone a long time ago, but it still needs to be told to show people what can happen and how devastating it can be to many families.”

She believes if her parents could see the film, they’d feel they finally got a little bit of justice. 

Hawkins believes her grandparents would be proud, too. 

“They don’t have to remain silent just because they’re dead,” she said. “Their story is still significant, it still can be told and I think it still should be.”

Summer of Sorrow premieres at the Ashland Theater on Saturday, Aug. 5 at 6:30 p.m. Additional showings will follow Aug. 6 and 12 at 2 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults and $6 for children, seniors, students and military members. 

“I’d encourage people to come see the movie, first of all to support local filmmakers,” Nicholas said. “This is a great step for the Mansfield film scene.”