Born and raised on a farm in Hudson, NY, Karen dePyster went to work at the New York State Training School for Girls in 1968, right after she graduated from...
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“But They All Come Back…” | Hudson Reentry Unit
In addition to its unique and rich history, Hudson Correctional Facility (HCF) has another feature that distinguishes it. Less than a year after Governor Eliot Spitzer’s plans to close the...
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House of Refuge for Women Founder Inspires New York City’s First Monument Dedicated to a Woman
As told by Joan Waugh in her book on the life of Josephine Shaw Lowell (Unsentimental Reformer,Harvard University Press, 1997): At noon on May 22, 1912, a granite fountain designed...
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Doing No Harm
Peter Tenerowicz, a lifelong resident of Hudson, NY, worked as a corrections officer (prison guard) at the Hudson Correctional Facility between 1981 and 2008. He was interviewed by oral historian...
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The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same…Or Do They?
Echoing trends over a century ago, today’s reformers’ are critical of large juvenile prisons and aim to create small, ‘home-like’ environments for confined youth. In 1906, at the Seventh New...
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“She Was Incorrigible…”
These photos and documents were among a small stash of early 1920’s ephemera from the Training School For Girls found by Lisa Durfee, the Tainted Lady Lounge blogger, in an...
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Why it is important “Remember”
Mary Allen was interviewed and photographed by Suzanne Snider on June 2nd, 2011. In the 1970’s, Mary worked at the New York State Training School for Girls in Hudson as well as...
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“The Dungeons Are Damp and Cold…”
A Board of Managers comprised of prominent citizens from throughout the State appointed by the Governor controlled the New York State House of Refuge for Women. Every year, the Board...
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