Protecting and Reforming Criminal Women

Protecting and Reforming Criminal Women

As the first act of “practical work” initiated by the CWC, clubwomen lobbied for day matrons to be placed in police stations for the protection and care of incarcerated women. Clubwomen continued to advocate for night matrons to be stationed in jails and prisons, and worked with other clubs in advocating for female police. Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the Chicago Woman’s Club lobbied to improve prison conditions and put criminal women under the protection and guardianship of other women. The CWC staunchly supported the idea that prisons be places for detention and reform rather than sites of punishment.

Image: "The Street-Girl's End." In The Dangerous Classes of New York and Twenty Years’ Work Among Them by Charles Loring Brace. Wynkoop & Hallenbeck, 1872.

Literary Program: Annual Announcements of the Chicago Woman’s Club, 1876-1920. Loyola University Chicago. Women & Leadership Archives. Chicago Woman’s Club. Boxes 1-5.

Minutes: Chicago Woman’s Club Records, Chicago History Museum.

Newspaper: Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1922).