The Mount Meigs Campus is a juvenile corrections facility of the

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

; the campus serves as the agency's administrative headquarters.Mt. Meigs Campus
."

Alabama Department of Youth Services The Alabama Department of Youth Services (DYS) is a state agency of Alabama, headquartered on the grounds of the Mount Meigs Campus in Mount Meigs, and in Montgomery.Interstate 85 Interstate 85 (I-85) is a major Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with I-65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus is an interchange with I-95 in Petersburg, Virginia, ...

North and about east of Downtown Montgomery. Since 2015, the separate J. Walter Wood Treatment facility for 24 girls is also located in the Mount Meigs Campus.

History

In 1888, Cornelia Bowen was recommended by

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...

to establish a school for boys and girls in the Mount Meigs area. Cornelia Bowen graduated from the

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a Private university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was f ...

in 1885, a member of the first graduating class, and led the

Mount Meigs Colored Institute The Mount Meigs Colored Institute (also Montgomery County Training School) was a reform school founded by Cornelia Bowen for African-Americans in Mount Meigs, Alabama, an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Alabama. History The scho ...

until her death in 1934. In 1908, the State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, of which Bowen was president, established a second school on the grounds of the institute. After much lobbying of Congress, in 1911, the women were successful in convincing the state to take over the operation of the reformatory. In 1911, the school became the Alabama Reform School for Juvenile Negro Law-Breakers. The name was changed to the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children in 1947, and to the Alabama Industrial School in 1970. On March 27, 1915, the

Hampton Institute Camera Club Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria **Hampton railway station, Melbourne ...

, known for its illustrations of

Paul Laurence Dunbar Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American C ...

's poetry, staged a photo sale for the benefit of the Mt. Meigs school. The sale raised funds for four five-dollar scholarships for day students. A Hampton graduate managed the Mt. Meigs school, which was considered "an outgrowth" of Hampton. Famous residents included baseball legend Leroy

Satchel Paige Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction in ...

, from 1918 to 1923. Earlier in its life, its capacity was 312 boys. There was controversy, in April 2008, when parent Glenn Herrmann said authorities surrounded his Randolph County home and accused him of helping his son break free at the Mount Meigs Campus. In 2012, the infamousUPD Sex scandal
lubbockonline.com

Chalkville Campus Chalkville Campus was a correctional facility for girls of the Alabama Department of Youth Services, in the Chalkville area, in Jefferson County, Alabama. In 1909 the Protestant Women of Birmingham created a youth corrections program that becam ...

facility for girls aged 12 to 18 was destroyed by a tornado and in 2015 the new J. Walter Wood Treatment facility for them was inaugurated at the Mount Meigs campus.

References

External links

Mount Meigs Campus
-

Alabama Department of Youth Services The Alabama Department of Youth Services (DYS) is a state agency of Alabama, headquartered on the grounds of the Mount Meigs Campus in Mount Meigs, and in Montgomery.2023 Podcast Unreformed: the story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children
{{Juvenile prisons in the United States Prisons in Alabama Buildings and structures in Montgomery County, Alabama 1911 establishments in Alabama African-American history of Alabama Industrial schools in the United States

History

See also

References

External links