, . - NEW YORK STATE TRAINING SCHOOL FOR GIRLS AT HUDSON, N.Y. p Cornell University Library HV9305.N7H812 1904 New York State Training School for Girls 3 1924 016 969 390 NEW YORK STATE Training School for Girls Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924016969390 NEW YORK STATE Training School for Girls HUDSON, N. Y. For the information of committing magistrates, public officials, parents, and citizens generally, this statement concern- ing the objects, methods, management, location and equipment of the institution is published by the Board of Managers. November, 1904. h) v s ■i i^y- note: The Legislature of 1904 established a new State institution, the New York State Training School for Girls, at Hudson, N. Y. The institution is for the training of delinquent girls under the age of sixteen years, heretofore sent to the girls' departments of the House of Refuge on Randall's Island, New York City, and the State Industrial School at Rochester, commitments to these institutions having been discontinued on June 1st, 1904. The Penal Code was amended at the same time so as to authorize the commitment of delinquent girls under the age of sixteen from all parts of the State to the New York State Training School for Girls, which is now the only State Institution to which delinquent girls of this age can be committed. Cottages New YorK State Training School Tor Girls LOCATION THE New York State Training School for Girls is located, on the east bank of the Hudson river at Hudson, Columbia county, N. Y., on the main line of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. Hudson is also the terminus of the Hudson and Chatham Branch of the Boston and Albany Railroad. An electric line runs between Hudson and Albany, a distance of thirty-eight miles. It is thus readily accessible from all parts of the State, being only eight hours by rail from Buffalo and two and a half hours from New York City. Many fast trains stop at Hud- son. Surface electric cars, leaving the railway station at frequent intervals, carry visitors through the main street of Hudson to a point about ten minutes' walk from the main entrance of the institution. The buildings of the institution are all located on a beautiful plateau, about a hundred feet above the river, commanding one of the famous Hudson views, including the Catskill mountains in the distance. To the east and south are rolling hills and farm lands. To the west is the Hudson river, and at the north is a fine view of the city of Hudson. Visitors are invariably impressed with the beauty of the site and surroundings. 6 New York State Training School for Girls CLASS OF INMATES In general, all girls between the ages of twelve and sixteen con- victed of any form of juvenile delinquency may be committed to this institution. Among the principal offences enumerated in the statutes are frequenting the company of thieves or prostitutes, or being found associated with vicious and dissolute persons, willful disobedience to parents or guardians, intemperate habits, vagrancy, any criminal offence, begging or receiving or soliciting alms, having been abandoned or improperly exposed or neglected by parents or other person or persons in parental control, being in concert saloons, dance-houses, theaters or places where liquors are sold without being in charge of a parent or guardian, playing any game of chance or skill in any place wherein or adjacent to which liquors are sold or given away, being employed in any illegal, indecent or immoral exhibition or practice, collecting cigar stumps, bones or refuse for market and peddling. Moreover, any girl under the age of twelve may be committed in case she is convicted of a felony. Commitments to this institution are regulated by section 135 of the State Charities Law (as amended by chapter 453, Laws of 1904) ; section 701 of the Penal Code (as amended by chapter 388, Laws of 1904) ; sections 291, 292 and 713 of the Penal Code, and sections 887 and 888 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Blank commitment papers are on file in the offices of County Clerks throughout the State, and may be had upon application to the Superintendent of the institution. Upon notification by tele- phone, telegraph, or otherwise to the Superintendent that a girl has been committed to the institution, a female officer will be sent for her. All expenses incurred in such conveyance are paid by the State. Pending the arrival of this marshal, no girl that is New York State Training School for Girls 7 convicted may be confined in any place where she is likely to come into contact with adult criminal offenders. (See section 291 of the Penal Code.) BUILDINGS The New York State Training School for Girls occupies buildings constructed by the State some years ago for an institution known as the House of Refuge for Women, which was discontinued by that act of the Legislature which established the New York State Training School for Girls. The buildings were fortunately erected on an approved modern cottage system, and are therefore particularly well adapted to the purposes of a girls' reformatory. They include seven three-story brick cottages, each of which provides sleeping quarters, dining-room, sitting-room, laundry, kitchen and sanitary bath and toilet accommodations for an average of twenty-six inmates. These cottages are named Van Rensselaer, Livingston, Clinton, Van Buren, Schuyler, Willard and Dix. Each girl has a separate bedroom. The cottages are sufficiently scattered over the grounds to make it practical to separate the different groups to any extent that may be desired. So far as living purposes go, each cottage is practically independent, and the aim is to reproduce, so far as prac- ticable, the processes, methods and spirit of an ordinary home. The buildings also include an administration building, a chapel, an industrial or school building, a hospital, a disciplinary building, a storehouse, a barn and a cold-storage building. In the industrial building are schoolrooms for common-school education, and well- equipped rooms for the classes in cooking, dressmaking, sewing and laundry work. The chapel contains an auditorium with a seating capacity for five hundred, which is used for Sunday services and singing-school, and a basement gymnasium, where occasional 8 New York State Training School for Girls gatherings and entertainments are held. The administration build- ing contains offices and the living quarters of the Superintendent and such of the other officers as do not reside in the cottages with the girls. Two officers and a teacher reside in each cottage. Ample protection from fire is provided. METHODS OF REFORMATION The aim of the management is to develop healthy bodily and mental activities. There is little of repression. The effort is to hold in check, and if possible to eliminate, vicious tendencies by fostering a healthy development of the physical, mental, moral and religious life. The means to this end may be described under the following three divisions: (a) Physical culture. — A careful physical examination of each girl is made by a competent physician soon after her arrival. Calis- thenics and gymnastic exercises suited to her years and bodily con- dition are prescribed by the instructor in physical culture and prac- ticed in a well-equipped gymnasium. The grounds are now being arranged so as to provide four tennis courts, two basket-ball fields and four croquet fields. The lawns, gardens, paths, etc., are kept in order by the girls. (b) Education. — For common-school purposes the inmates are divided into four grades. Two teachers give instruction in all branches taught in ordinary schools, under direction of one of the members of the Board of Managers, who is an experienced educator. Besides these, there are classes in cooking, laundry, plain sewing and dressmaking, singing, gardening and housework. Nearly all the clothing worn by the inmates is made by themselves. The New York State Training School for Girls 9 object of the educational work is to arouse interest and to develop skill in all that pertains to the management of an ordinary household, (c) Moral and religious instruction. — The moral instruction is enforced by practice and example rather than by precept. The officers and teachers are all selected with reference to their personal qualifications and influence upon the girls in the everyday life of the institution. It is a noteworthy fact that visitors to the institution almost invariably comment upon the happy, cheerful countenances of the girls. Girls upon admission are kept apart from the other inmates until their characters and habits are ascertained, and are then placed in one cottage or another according to their characteris- tics. Corporal punishment is absolutely prohibited. For disciplin- ary purposes resort is had to withdrawal of some privilege or oppor- tunity which would be prized. In the rare instances in which anything further is required there is seclusion in well-lighted, isolated rooms under medical observation, with light but nutritious diet and regular outdoor exercise. There are daily evening prayers, accompanied by the singing of hymns, in each cottage. On Sundays there is regular service in the chapel. Clergymen of various denominations take turns in conduct- ing these services. The Roman Catholic priest has a class for the adherents of his church that meets fortnightly, and he hears con- fession and celebrates mass once a month. Jewish holidays are observed by inmates who hold that faith. Any inmate, upon request, may have spiritual counsel or advice from a clergyman of her own faith. IO New York State Training School for Girls HEALTH Scrupulous attention is paid to the dietary, the cleanliness of the inmates, the sanitary conditions of the buildings, the quality and con- dition of the clothing and its suitability to the season. During the period since September 30, 1899, when there has been an average population of over 200, there have been only four deaths in the institution. There has been at no time any epidemic or outbreak of disease of any character. The milk is inspected by the State Agricultural Department. The drinking water is all boiled and filtered. The following are ordinary menus : WEEK-DAYS Breakfast. Dinner. Supper. A cereal. Meat or baked beans. Potatoes or hash or Bread, butter or syrup. Potatoes. macaroni. Milk. Vegetables — one or two Bread and butter. Sometimes potatoes or kinds. Cake or cookies. hash. Bread, frequently dessert. SUNDAY Frequently fresh fruit or preserves. Breakfast. Dinner. Supper. Hominy. Sweet potatoes. Bread and butter. Fishballs. Roast beef and gravy. Head cheese. Bread, butter and syrup. Creamed carrots. Prunes. Milk and cocoa. Bread. Cocoanut cake. As this statement is prepared, a new hospital with modern equip- ment, for which the Legislature appropriated $10,000, is coming into- use. It contains, besides rooms for patients, a solarium, an oper- ating room, isolation rooms, rooms for nurses and a pharmacy. The contractors have just completed a new sewage disposal plant at a cost of about $7,000. New York State Training School for Girls ii PAROLES AND DISCHARGES The Board of Managers may parole or discharge any inmate whenever in its opinion such course is best for the inmate. In any event, any girl under the age of fifteen years when committed may not be retained after she reaches the age of eighteen, and any girl over fifteen and under sixteen when committed shall not be detained for a period longer than three years. The sentences are not for a fixed term, and the date of discharge or parole depends upon the conduct of the girl. A careful record is kept of the behavior of each girl, and the Board of Managers is inclined to parole or dis- charge a girl as soon as it seems likely that she will do well after leaving the institution. Inmates may be paroled in the care of their relatives or friends, or may be placed in families selected after care- ful investigation by the agents of the institution. Every paroled girl is visited several times a year by the parole agent, and is required to send a written monthly report, approved by the person in whose care she is paroled. Any inmate violating the terms of parole may be returned to the institution. When an inmate is paroled or finally discharged the institution provides sufficient clothing, gives her a small sum of money, pays for her transportation to her destination and sends with her a woman attendant for the purpose of seeing that she is protected until she reaches her destination. The supervision exercised during the period of parole may be continued during the term for which the commitment was made, or may be discontinued at any time by the Board of Managers, if in its opinion the girl is giving sufficient promise of continued good behavior. 12 New York State Training School for Girls VISITATION BY PARENTS AND RELATIVES Parents and relatives (unless of such character that they would be apt to exercise a harmful influence upon the inmates) are encouraged to visit inmates from time to time. Accommodations at extremely reasonable rates can be secured in the city of Hudson. Destitute parents can, as a rule, secure transportation at reduced rates, and in some cases without charge, through charity organiza- tion societies, or similar agencies in their localities. Particulars in regard to transportation and accommodations will be furnished by the Superintendent upon application. There are no restrictions as to the number of letters from parents and relatives to the girls, and letters may be written from time to time by the girls to their families. Presents of fancy articles, or materials therefor, and fresh fruit at any time are permitted. Candy and nuts are received at the holiday season. Gifts of money are not permitted. A liberal amount of reading matter is provided by the institution, but additional gifts of books and periodicals are allowed. METHOD OF SUPPORT The institution is supported wholly by the State. There is no expense to any county, city, town or village for transportation, clothing, maintenance or education of girls committed to this insti- tution. The attention of Magistrates is called to the fact that this is the only institution in the State to which delinquent girls between the ages of twelve and sixteen are committed as State charges, and therefore without expense to the locality. 8 New York State Training School for Girls 13 OFFICIAL INSPECTION The institution is inspected in every department from time to time by the official representatives of the State Board of Charities. It is also visited from time to time by representatives of the State Charities Aid Association, and by numerous other public officials. Committing Magistrates, County Superintendents of the Poor, District Attorneys and other public officials are invited and urged to visit the institution for the purpose of informing themselves as to the treatment afforded its inmates. The institution has been recently inspected by Hon. E. V. Stoddard of Rochester, President of the State Board of Charities; Dr. Stephen Smith of New York City, Mr. Dennis McCarthy of Syracuse, and Mrs. Beekman de Peyster of New York City, members of the State Board of Charities; Mr. Robert W. Hebberd of Albany, Secretary of the Board ; Mr. Harry H. Bender of Albany, Fiscal Supervisor of State Charities, and Mr. Homer Folks of New York City, Secretary of the State Charities Aid Association, any of whom would doubtless be willing to respond to inquiries concerning the institution. OFFICIALS The Superintendent of the institution is Dr. Hortense V. Bruce, a graduate of the Medical Department of the University of Michigan. During the four and a half years of her work at Hud- son she has proved herself a most efficient and intelligent officer. The Assistant Superintendent of the institution is Miss Mary E. Walsh, recently the disciplinary officer at the State Industrial School at Rochester, which position she had held for twelve years. The resident physician is Dr. Eloise Walker, who has held the position the last four and a half years. 14 New York State Training School for Girls BOARD OF MANAGERS The President of the Board of Managers is Chas. H. Strong, Esq., of the firm of Peckham, Warner and Strong, lawyers, at 52 and 54 William street, next Wall street, New York City. The Secretary of the Board is Mrs. Marcia Chace Powell, of Ghent, Columbia county, N. Y. The Treasurer is Dr. Henry A. Mereness, a physician of Albany. The other members of the Board are Mrs. Annie Winsor Allen, of New York City, Mr. Frank G. Cunley, President of the Police Board of Poughkeepsie, and Mr. George A. Lewis, lawyer, Erie County Bank Building, Buffalo. J. B. LYON COMPANY, PRINTERS, ALBANY, NEW YORK