Miss Hannigan is an abusive alcoholic who takes care of an orphanage in New York City during the Great Depression. During this time many people had lost their jobs and living conditions became unbearable. This left a lot of children to be separated from their families due to the cost and expenses of raising a child. Miss Hannigan’s orphanage is home to young girls only, even though she despises children and little girls. This made the task of looking after them almost impossible for her. Even though she does not like them and is in debt due to her addictions, she still enjoys her job. Her orphanage is located on Hudson Street. The building allows for tight quarters and all of the orphans share one large bedroom with rows of bunk beds one after another. All the floors are creaky throughout the entire establishment and her red lipstick is awkwardly stained in random locations.
The structure has been there since 1891, but it somehow still looks younger than Miss Hannigan herself. Her ‘little angles’ are pushed to keep it clean. Some of the things she has her girls do is fold blankets, do her laundry and scrub the floors until Hannigan insists that they “shine like the top of the Chrysler building”. The way she grabs the attention of her orphans is by blowing her whistle. The high pitch demand makes the girls work faster and harder to get their rewards. Their reward is a delightful hot mush breakfast lunch and dinner and when they disobey Hannigan, the girls receive cold mush. Miss Hannigan insists that the favourite part of her job is when her little orphans chant, “We love you Miss Hannigan!” It is music to her ears… in a crazy kind of way. One issue that Hannigan cannot shake is the rebellious attitude of one girl named Annie in her orphanage. Annie is definitely not her cup of tea, or rather, glass of gin. It could be because her hair is orange like hers, but it is mainly because Annie is too rambunctious for Miss Hannigan's liking. She sees children like Annie as trouble and has the dedicated will to keep them under her control in order to make them presentable for future parents.
Miss Hannigan is definitely not the most beautiful and kind soul. She has been charged with many criminal acts including; child abuse, substance abuse, indecent exposure, theft, embexelment, attempted murder, and attempted kidnapping. But, she has been able to keep her business alive. Although she does have a past, all Hannigan dreams of is getting out of the orphanage business someday to become a wealthy lady. It is difficult for her to keep all of these ‘obnoxious’ little girls under her thumb, but she believes she can succeed and find her way down ‘Easy Street’. Throughout the years, there have been many failed attempts due to her lack of intelligence, abusive tendencies and extreme drinking problem. Miss Hannigan is far from being a classy lady with her tacky jewelry and fake spray tan. But, she knows what a classy girl looks like when she sees one.