The Indiana Reformatory Institution for Women and Girls

*The institution focused on the rehabilitation of its inmates through labor and education, including caring for farm animals used by the facility. Photo courtesy of the Indiana Album.*

In 1869, the Indiana State Legislature established the Indiana Reformatory Institution for Women and Girls, the first prison exclusively for females in the nation. The campus was established in 1873 in Indianapolis and housed both juvenile and adult female offenders. The first 17 inmates were brought in from the Indiana State Prison South (in Jeffersonville, IN), where they were imprisoned in a separate wing from the male inmates. The name was changed in 1899 to the Reform School for Girls and Women Prison, and the girls under 15 years of age were given separate quarters. The name was changed to the Industrial School for Girls and a separate department called the Indiana Woman’s Prison.

The women were thought to have a negative effect on the young girls’ morals, so in 1907, the girls moved to an entirely different facility in Indianapolis named the Indiana Girls’ School, and the women’s facility was renamed the Indiana Women’s Prison.

*The Indiana Reformatory Institution for Women and Girls is in Section 37, Lot 110. The graves are unmarked.*

The lot for the Indiana Reformatory Institution for Women and Girls (Sec 37, Lot 110) was established in 1891, with the first burial in February of that year. A total of 16 interments happened, with the last in 1904. The records do not differentiate which facility/department the individual came from, but from looking at historic documents we can infer whether the individual was from the women’s department or the girls’ department. The death causes showcase communicable diseases, most notably consumption (tuberculosis); 44% of the deaths were tuberculosis. All the deaths were individuals under the age of 24. There are three males buried in the lot, infants of inmates, who did not survive.

The Indiana Reformatory Institution for Women and Girls was located on 15 acres on the east side of Indianapolis. It included an administration building, residential cottages, hospital, and chapel. Photo courtesy of the Indiana Album.

While not the youngest death, one the most interesting stories is that of Annie Topp, a 6-year-old “inmate.” She was in the institution, not because of any crime she committed, but because of family issues. She was placed in the facility as an infant. The other inmates called her “sister” and cared for her. She eventually passed in 1892 of tonsilitis.