© Copyright by Allison Leigh Robinson May, 2016 TO ‘PROTECT’ WOMEN AND CHILDREN: GENDER, RACE, AND THE CARCERAL MANIFESTATION OF SOUTHERN PATERNALISM _______________ A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________ By Allison Leigh Robinson May, 2016 TO ‘PROTECT’ WOMEN AND CHILDREN: GENDER, RACE, AND THE CARCERAL MANIFESTATION OF SOUTHERN PATERNALISM _________________________ Allison Leigh Robinson APPROVED: _________________________ Nancy Beck Young, Ph.D. Committee Chair _________________________ Linda Reed, Ph.D. _________________________ James A. Schafer, Ph.D. _________________________ Leandra Zarnow, Ph.D. _________________________ Mary C. Brennan, Ph.D. Texas State University _________________________ Steven G. Craig, Ph.D. Interim Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Department of Economics ii TO ‘PROTECT’ WOMEN AND CHILDREN: GENDER, RACE, AND THE CARCERAL MANIFESTATION OF SOUTHERN PATERNALISM _______________ An Abstract of a Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________ By Allison Leigh Robinson May, 2016 ABSTRACT This study explores southern carceral policy as it pertained to women and children in the region from the Progressive Era through the 1950s. Using various state archival records from carefully selected Upper South (Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina) and Deep South states (Alabama and Texas) as well as personal papers and gubernatorial records, this work uncovers the ways in which southern lawmakers implemented carceral policies that sought to preserve race and gender traditions of the region. Indeed, I argue early twentieth century penal reform campaigns influenced southern lawmakers to establish institutions that, according to the state, helped rehabilitate “delinquent” women and children into upstanding citizens while simultaneously protecting society from this “criminal” class. In reality, state officials used broad interpretations of the law to justify the segregation of women and children who challenged social constructs of race, gender, and sexuality. Specifically, this study uncovers how southern reformers and lawmakers utilized reformatories as institutions of social control. As the twentieth century progressed and challenges to traditional gender, racial, and sexual mores occurred throughout the nation, southern attempts to “modernize” the carceral state were instead mere continuations of antiquated punitive methods that prevented effective rehabilitation and inspired objections from the inmates and citizenry. Their refusal to yield to changes in society led to the construction of a carceral state that failed in its intended reformative mission. The result was the institutional manifestation of traditional southern paternalism that sought to preserve nineteenth century gender and racial hierarchies. iv Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to give thanks to my creator God for giving me the strength and ability to finish this major work. I could not have accomplished this without Him by my side. To Dr. Nancy Beck Young, my advisor, for always believing in my abilities as a historian, especially when I did not, and guiding me through my doctoral education. Her expertise and professionalism throughout this process is very much appreciated. Thank you also to my dissertation committee, Dr. James A. Schafer, who served as my second reader and major editor, Dr. Linda Reed, Dr. Leandra Zarnow, and Dr. Mary C. Brennan. To the faculty of the department of history at the University of Houston, who have built an outstanding program that continues to challenge its students in the most positive ways. I also want to acknowledge the incredibly helpful archivists and staff of the Texas State Library and Archive Commission, Alabama Department of Archives and History, Louisiana State Archives, State Archive of North Carolina, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Virginia Historical Society, and the Library of Virginia. A very special thank you to my colleagues at the University of Houston. While every one of them influenced this project in important ways, I especially thank Christopher Haight, John Huntington, and Sean Smith for the countless hours of brainstorming that went into shaping this project from the beginning. This dissertation could not have met its completion without the support of my family. I was blessed with parents who stand as models of perseverance and success. My mom, Helen, and dad, Edward, encouraged me to go as far as I could with my education and it was their steady confidence in my abilities that helped me through. The most heartfelt thank you to my incredibly patient and loving husband, Kyle, who probably suffered through this project more v than anyone else. He read every word, paragraph, and chapter more than he wanted to but never once complained. I cannot put into words how much I love and appreciate him. During this project I lost and gained loved ones. My biological father, Philip Hughes, passed away June 22, 2014, and although our relationship had its challenges, he never failed to tell me how proud he was of my accomplishments. On January 9, 2016, my first mentor, Dr. Debra Allen, passed away and left behind an infallible legacy that I hope to continue. Amidst this sadness, however, God blessed me immensely. At 3:03am on July 4, 2015, my daughter Isobel entered this world with a calming presence that I know she did not inherit from me. While completing the dissertation with an infant posed challenges, I can honestly say she is the reason I finished. I dedicate this work to her, to my “ribbit,” to my heart. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Chapter One – Southern Institution Building in a Progressive Age 20 Chapter Two – Curing Crime: Medicine, Mental Health, and Eugenics in Southern Carceral Policy 79 Chapter Three – Depression, Death, and a Little Arson: The Deconstruction of Progressive Reform in Southern Juvenile Institutions 122 Chapter Four – Reclaiming Citizenship: War Work at the State Industrial Farm for Women in Virginia and the Publication of ‘The Citizen’ 169 Chapter Five – The Incorrigible South: Postwar Juvenile Delinquency and Southern Resistance to Social Change 205 Conclusion 250 Appendix 256 Bibliography 260 vii Introduction “Please let me have my child.”1 With this impassioned plea, Ollie Glass appealed to Alabama Governor Bibb Graves for the release of her middle daughter, Bessie Glass. Bessie was detained in Alabama’s State Training School for Girls, a cottage style reformatory. The letter, penned in the winter of 1935, marked the zenith of a fifteen-month custody battle between Glass and state authorities. The girl’s offense was her mother’s criminal record. Alabama officials sentenced all three of Ollie Glass’s children to state institutions because of allegations that their mother owned and operated a house of prostitution. A year after authorities removed the girls from her custody, Ollie, along with her husband J.D., outmaneuvered the courts on a technicality, forcing the state to release their oldest and youngest daughters, Annie Mae and Winona Evelyn, who both fell outside of the age parameters of the juvenile courts. Bessie remained trapped in a paternalistic system that embraced a policy of acting in loco parentis (in the place of the parent).2 After collecting sworn statements from community leaders and local authorities vouching for Ollie’s credibility, the Glass family launched a legal campaign to regain custody of Bessie. It took two years of contentious wrangling between Alabama courts and 1 Ollie Glass to the Colbert Court in Alabama, sworn statement, 11 December 1935, “Folder 3 – State Training School for Girls, Jan 15, 1936 – Jan 19, 1939,” Box SG. 12157, State Institution Files (SIF) – Governor (1935-1939: Graves), Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH), Birmingham, AL. 2 Police officers in Sheffield, Alabama to “To Whom it May Concern,” 28 August 1935; Ollie Glass to the Colbert Court in Alabama, sworn statement, 11 December 1935; Annie Myricks, sworn statement, 5 October 1934; J.A. Groff, sworn statement, 11 October 1934; Mary H. Fowler to Lawrence H. Lee, 2 December 1935 all in “Folder 3 – State Training School for Girls, Jan 15, 1936 – Jan 19, 1939,” Box SG. 12157, SIF - Governor (1935-1939: Graves), ADAH, Birmingham, AL. the Glasses before Graves paroled Bessie into the custody of her parents.3 The Glasses’ victory worried a number of state officials who believed that the state, not the parents, knew what was best for the delinquent children of Alabama. Superintendent for the State Training School for Girls, Mary H. Fowler, expressed concern that the Glasses’ legal actions may “establish a precedent whereby parents who had the means could employ counsel to free their daughters from the custody of the School.” Such actions, Fowler contended, worked “against the welfare of the child” and “endanger the welfare of every child committed to the State Training School for Girls,” as the inmates and citizens of the state would lose confidence in the system.4 In order for the children to trust the state they needed to surrender the confidence they had in their parents. Although Bessie’s case is specific to Alabama, it illuminates several larger characteristics of twentieth century southern carceral