"A Painful Chapter in Our History"

Years ago, in the early days of Historic Hudson's advocacy for the Dr. Oliver Bronson House, the deputy superintendent at the time of the Hudson Correctional Facility took Timothy Dunleavy and me on a tour of the wooded area west of the historic house, once part of the Bronson estate but now the grounds of the correctional facility--an area usually off limits to us. That excursion brought us to a small graveyard, which dated back to the days when what is now the Hudson Correctional Facility was the Women's House of Refuge (1887-1904).

Cottages at the Women's House of Refuge

As we explored the little graveyard, the deputy superintendent commented that records showed the offense of many of the women consigned to the House of Refuge was bigamy. Not surprising, really. In an era when women were rarely able to fend for themselves and could not legally sue for divorce, a woman abandoned by her husband or escaping an abusive marriage might enter into a bigamous marriage just to survive. 

On Monday morning, July 22, there is to be a private memorial ceremony at that little graveyard on the grounds of the Hudson Correctional Facility to honor the women and infants buried there. The event, which is not open to the public, is the initiative of Incorrigibles, a transmedia project that documents the stories of girls incarcerated during the period from 1900 to the present day. ("Incorrigible" was routinely recorded as the offense that sent girls between the ages 12 to 15 to the New York State Training School for Girls, the institution that occupied the site from 1904 to 1975.)

Fire drill at the Girls' Training School

The following is quoted from the press release announcing the event:

The private ceremony will take place at the small cemetery, discovered on the grounds of the Hudson Correctional Facility, which previously housed the New York House of Refuge (1887 to 1904) and the New York State Training School for Girls (1904 to 1975). The House of Refuge was the second reformatory for women [in the United States]. The NYS Training School was the largest prison for girls in the country, incarcerating an estimated 15,000 young women during its 71-year history, Ella Fitzgerald being the most well-known. 

The cemetery contains the graves of young women and infants who died while at the institutions. Many of the weathered stones bear only girls' names, with no dates or epitaphs. "This ceremony is a crucial step in acknowledging a painful chapter in our history and working towards healing. It aims to restore dignity to those buried in the cemetery and raise awareness about the historical treatment of incarcerated girls and women,” said Alison Cornyn, director of the Incorrigibles project.

The one-hour ceremony will include formerly incarcerated women and family members, local officials, and others. Mayor Kamal Johnson, Reverend Kim Singletary of Overcomers Ministries in Hudson, author and former New York Times writer Nina Bernstein, and dancer Amanda Krische are among those who will contribute.

"By uncovering this difficult history, we hope to spark important conversations about how society can better support young women today," said Cynthia Boykin, a former Newburgh resident who was sent to the Training School at age 15 in the 1970s. 

The event . . . follows a series of free public events and an exhibition, Incorrigibles: Bearing Witness to the Incarcerated Girls of New York, hosted at The Church–Staatsburg, July 18-21, as part of Upstate Arts Weekend. These events are generously supported by Humanities New York and The Mellon Foundation through a Post Incarceration Humanities Project grant. The memorial ceremony is not open to the public, however an offsite memorial in Hudson is planned as part of this initiative.