Alabama. State Training School for Girls (1915-1973).

Authorities:

Alabama Government Manual, 1973. Birmingham: Commercial Printing Company, 1973.

Code of Ala. 1940, Title 52, Sec. 570-584. Charlottesville: The Michie Company, 1941.

Markley, Anne Ethelyn. Author Headings for the Official Publications of the State of Ala. Chicago: The American Library Association, 1948.

The first attempt by the State to provide for the needs of female juvenile delinquents was in 1911 April when the Legislature authorized the State to assume control of the Girls' Home for the Friendless, located near Eastlake in Birmingham; which institution was thereafter known as the Ala. Home of Refuge. (Markley, p. 103; Acts of Ala., 1911, No. 349)

The Home of Refuge was administered by a Board of Managers consisting of twelve ladies appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The Governor and Attorney General served as ex-officio members.

The Board was authorized to elect from among its members a president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer. The Board was required to meet at least once a year at the Home, and was authorized to make all rules and regulations necessary for the management of the Home.

It was the duty of the Board of Managers of the Ala. Home of Refuge to receive, care, and provide for the welfare of all white delinquent females between the ages of twelve and twenty-five years committed to the Home by the courts or by their parents. Girls eligible to be committed to the Home were: 1) any who had been abandoned by their parents, or who had abandoned their parents and homes and had no visible means of support and who were leading an immoral and profligate life; 2) any who were orphans lacking appropriate guardianship to care for their physical, mental, and moral welfare; 3) any whose parents were drunkards, or who were likely to fall into immorality; 4) any who had been arrested and brought before police courts or other inferior courts for petty offenses indicative of an immoral life, and who appeared to be beyond the control of their parents; 5) any who were prostitutes and were not mentally or physically incapable of being benefitted by the discipline of the Home; and 6) any female between the ages of twelve and eighteen who was a vagrant as defined by the laws of Ala. (Acts, 1911, No. 349, Sec. 7)

Residents of the Home were subject to release upon attaining the age of twenty-one years, but could remain voluntarily if the manager thought their further retention might prove beneficial.

The Legislature appropriated three thousand dollars per annum for the maintenance of the Home of Refuge for the years 1911, 1912, 1913, and 1914. (Acts of Ala. 1911, No. 349)

1915 Sept., the Legislature changed the name of the Ala. Home of Refuge to the State Training School for Girls. (Acts of Ala., 1915, No. 780)

The Legislature also granted to municipal courts, municipal court judges, or city recorders in any town or city in Ala. the authority to commit white girls to the institution. It lowered to nine years the minimum age at which girls could be committed, and made it a misdemeanor offense punishable by a fine of fifty to five hundred dollars or up to twelve months imprisonment for any person to "persuade, coerce, employ, induce, or assist any girl to leave or escape the institution." (Acts of Ala. 1915, No. 780, Sec. 6)

1918 Nov. the school was moved to Pinson, Ala., and 1922 Aug. it was moved to Birmingham (Markley, p. 103)

1931 May the Legislature reorganized the school. Responsibility for the supervision of the school was vested in a Board of Trustees, which consisted of the Governor as ex-officio chairman, and twelve members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. Half of the members had to be women; one member represented each of the nine Congressional Districts of the State, and three members had to be residents of Jefferson Co. Members served for six years.

It was the duty of the Board of Trustees to meet at least twice a year; to make annual reports to the Governor showing receipts and expenditures and other information pertaining to the condition and operation of the school; to supervise the land and buildings of the school; and to elect an Executive Committee and a Superintendent of the school.

The Executive Committee was composed of four members of the Board of Trustees from Jefferson Co. The Committee served as a parole board for the school and exercised full and complete power to grant paroles and discharges. The Executive Committee held monthly meetings and performed the duties delegated to it by the Board.

The Superintendent had to be a woman with a college degree in one of the social sciences. She had to have experience in social case work and institution management. She was authorized to nominate all officers and employees at the school, pending approval of the Board of Trustees. The Superintendent was required to reside at the school, to keep accounts of all receipts and expenditures, and to keep a case record of the name, age, and previous history of each girl, as well as information as to her conduct, training, and education while at the school, and after leaving it when the girl was paroled. The Superintendent could make recommendations to the Parole Board for the discharge or parole of any girl she considered deserving of such. It was the responsibility of the Superintendent to investigate the home, place, or persons to whom a girl was to be discharged, and to notify the girl's court of commitment of her impending release. The Superintendent was authorized to petition the Partlow School for Mental Inferiors to receive any girl she considered mentally incapable of benefitting by the training at the school.

A licensed physician and a registered nurse were regularly employed by the school.

Corporal punishment was not permitted.

It was the duty of the State Superintendent of Education to prepare regular academic and vocational courses for use at the school, and to report annually to the Governor on the state of education at the school.

It was the duty of an official of the State Child Welfare Dept. to visit the school from time to time to advise the officers and workers in regard to approved methods of child care, best types of housing and institution equipment, and adequate records. The Superintendent of the school was required to make regular reports to the Child Welfare Dept., showing admissions and discharges and such social data as the Dept. required. The Dept. issued a written report of its inspections and findings to the Governor and Board of Trustees.

The Legislature appropriated fifty thousand dollars for the annual support and maintenance of the school. (Acts of Ala. 1931, No. 227)

1945 June the Legislature included among the ex-officio members of the Board of Trustees the State Superintendent of Education, the Commissioner of Public Welfare, and the State Health Officer. (Acts of Ala. 1945, No. 171)

1973 Sept. the Legislature created the State Dept. of Youth Services, and transferred to it the responsibility, authority, and property of the Ala. Training School for Girls. The School thereafter was referred to as the Chalkville Campus. (Acts of Ala. 1973, No. 816)

From the description of Agency history record. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 145408047