While the Broadway musical made “Annie” famous in 1977, the character goes back to an 1885 poem by James Whitcomb Riley, which he based on an orphan living in his own home. “Annie” evolved ...

First it was a poem by James Whitcomp Riley called "Little Orphant Annie," written in 1885. Cartoonist Harold Gray then adapted the story into a daily newspaper comic strip called Little Orphan Annie.

Little Orphan Annie may be famous in comic strips and movies, but she was first near and dear to the hearts of a Hancock ...