State Reform School - Southeast Cottage, 1887
MakerMade by
H. Wales Lines Company
American, 1864 - 1983
Date1887
MediumPhotography; albumen on paper in cardboard album covers
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 7 1/4 x 9 1/4in. (18.4 x 23.5cm)
Other (overall height x width): 8 1/4 x 11 1/2in. (21 x 29.2cm)
Other (overall height x width): 8 1/4 x 11 1/2in. (21 x 29.2cm)
ClassificationsGraphics
DescriptionPhotograph of the Meriden School for Boys, also known as the State Reform School. It is a three story brick building with a cupola and weathervane, one chimney, and covered entries with stairs.
Object number2015.149.1.51
InscribedRecto, handwritten in black ink: "State Reform School - South East Cottage 1887"Recto, handwritten in pencil: "SRS SE Bldg"NotesFrom: CT General Assembly, Connecticut Reform School History
“The Meriden School for Boys was opened in March 1854, three years after the legislature authorized creation of a reform school for boys in 1851. This authorization followed a select legislative committee's report in 1850 that called for establishing a school for the “instruction, employment, and reformation of juvenile offenders.” It estimated that at least 200 boys a year could be classified as juvenile offenders who might be sent to the school. The legislature's actions were part of a national movement to find an alternative to imprisoning juveniles with adults.
The legislature appropriated $10,000 to establish the school, but these funds could not be spent until individuals contributed a matching amount. This was accomplished within a few years, and the school was opened in 1854 with 139 boys. Boys under age 16 who committed crimes could be committed to the school for a definite sentence, until they were reformed, or until they turned age 21. Over half of the boys in the school in 1856 had lost one or both parents, over half had either one or both parents deemed intemperate, and 20% had one or both parents in jail.
An eight-member board of trustees appointed by the legislature governed the school. The board hired the school's employees, which included a superintendent to administer daily operations, academic and vocational instructors, a chaplain, a steward, watchmen, and a farmer. The trustees could apprentice boys to farmers and mechanics; most of the boys who were discharged from the school left in this way. They could also remand incorrigible boys to a county sheriff or town constable for placement in a prison, jail, or workhouse.
The trustees intended the school to be a family as well as a school of detention and reformation. The boys worked six hours a day; spent four in school; prayed, played, or performed incidental duties for five hours; and had nine hours for sleep. They were housed in dormitories that were secured at night. The school's punishment philosophy called for graduated sanctions that began with denying recreation and rose, “when absolutely necessary,” to beating.”
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