Today in 1887, Minnie Williamson's adoptive father asked the court to send her to SF's Magdalen Asylum because she kept running away from home. (I wonder what kind of father he was?) And so much scorn for her tears and rebelliousness. Have they never met a teenager? pic.twitter.com/ZQfckAjxpl
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) July 31, 2022
Today in 1890, SF teens Mamie Hart and Mamie Pearson were arrested in brothels and sentenced to the Magdalen Asylum, and today in 1869, Lizzie Dunn was discharged from the County Hospital and also sent to the Mag. Lizzie was likely not considered a prisoner but it isn't clear. pic.twitter.com/s1IExky5OI
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) July 30, 2022
Also today, in 1897, police decided 12-year-old Hazel Ward was "vagrant" because she was living with a mixed-race couple. (!!!!) Hazel was arrested and probably sentenced to SF's Magdalen Asylum. (Hunt Street was, I think, a street in the Haight at this time.) pic.twitter.com/X7qPa5SqTh
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) July 29, 2022
Today in 1889, SF teen Mary Fitzgerald was arrested among "opium fiends and fast women" in a Mason St. brothel, and the @sfexaminer predicted she would be sentenced to the Magdalen Asylum. Mary hoped a "rich friend at the Palace Hotel" would bail her out before that happened. pic.twitter.com/xjfZ4yOhn2
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) July 29, 2022
Here's a bit more on the Beulah Home from a book called "Child Welfare Work in California," by William H. Slingerland, published in 1916. https://t.co/tpEtaCIMk5 pic.twitter.com/G0l8VoTB9R
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) July 28, 2022
Today in 1888, 16-year-old Bella Olliver, "a pretty little innocent-looking blonde," was sentenced to SF's Magdalen Asylum ... for engaging in sex work. But she was proud and happy in her work, and looking forward to success when she got out again! A legend. pic.twitter.com/tvHHDuS219
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) July 26, 2022
"Horrible if true." Tomorrow in 1891, Minnie Norton, 15, was found in a boardinghouse (apparently employed for "immoral purposes" by Emma Bryant) and sent to the SF Magdalen Asylum. Norton, who was ill, told officials her mother died the year before & left her in Bryant's care. pic.twitter.com/tXAVYt9x65
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) July 23, 2022
Today in 1899, Etta Bermingham was sent to SF's Magdalen Asylum for petty larceny. (Now a misdemeanor in CA.) But how dare a culture judge women and girls for not looking a beautiful and well-dressed, and then accuse them of having a "weakness for fine clothes." pic.twitter.com/4gwjejl477
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) July 22, 2022
Just look at all the ways 16-year-old Kate Malaney tried to avoid being an inmate at SF's Magdalen Asylum: feigning illness and escaping from the hospital; getting married; working in a brothel. The Mag wasn't the restorative sanctuary people (especially the nuns) claimed it was. pic.twitter.com/dkUz4Zims5
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) July 21, 2022
Today in 1892, Desideria Peroy, an inmate at SF's Magdalen Asylum despite being 19 (most inmates were released ~18) apparently became "suddenly insane" and was sent to the Home of the Inebriates pending examination by the Lunacy Commission. Both great agencies, I'm sure. pic.twitter.com/rleEjw8UUC
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) July 21, 2022
Yesterday in 1895, Henrietta Wohlieben (17) and Augie Hoffman (16) were arrested in a brothel on Powell St. and sentenced to SF's Magdalen Asylum. Here's Holbrook again (we met him yesterday), "preventing" more "cruelty to children." I wonder if the Society home as on Sheridan. pic.twitter.com/MThRex4PiZ
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) July 18, 2022
It's hard to see how arresting a runaway and sending her to a labor prison prevents cruelty in any way.
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) July 17, 2022
Today in 1905, 10-year-old Ivy Jasperson was sentenced to the SF Magdalen Asylum. She was "apparently incorrigible" and "utterly unmanageable" but it's easy to see why; she'd already been imprisoned three times and didn't want to go back. The paper's descriptions are horrifying. pic.twitter.com/Xz7XtzOvzR
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) July 16, 2022
Today in 1890, 13-year-old Ellen Hoffman was released from the SF Magdalen Asylum after a month as an inmate, and her mom planned to take her to Kansas City. Almost a year later, the presiding Judge, Hale Rix, faced ousting after a case involving a sketchy bank. pic.twitter.com/VjkvdnFhir
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) July 13, 2022
Today in 1895, 17-year-old Josie Stanley was arrested for leaving home for two weeks and for spending time in a rooming-house with boys, beer, cigarettes and her friend Lizzie Whalen. She was sentenced to the SF Magdalen Asylum. Lizzie (16) was allowed to marry instead. pic.twitter.com/F29e5j3Vhj
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) July 11, 2022
Today in 1891, 15-year-old Mary Ann Later, a veteran of the SF Magdalen Asylum, was sentenced to 4 years in the Whittier Reform School for ... being difficult? For a brief period in this era, SF girls went to Whittier instead of the Mag. But I wonder ... pic.twitter.com/XLEcAqEteU
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) July 10, 2022
Today in 1889, Bertha Moreton and Josephine Lauter, two SF teens who were possibly sex workers, were sent to the Magdalen Asylum. The @sfchronicle called them "Bad Girls" and claimed that the upset they displayed in court was just for show. pic.twitter.com/Ey2gKRBik5
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) July 4, 2022
Today in 1894, 16-year-old Lillian Smith ("a pert, young blonde") and May Meyers were sentenced to SF's Magdalen Asylum for homelessness and (I think?) sex work. Lena Cohen was sent to jail; too old for The Mag. For petty larceny, which SFPD won't even turn up for nowadays. pic.twitter.com/vMGXxmbgHg
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) June 30, 2022
Today in 1891, 15-year-old May Walsh, "wayward," "incorrigible," and a runaway, was arrested for leaving home with a friend or boyfriend and heading to Sacramento. Many times these girls' only "crimes" were "leading an idle and dissolute life." pic.twitter.com/TBwQEUm4CB
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) June 25, 2022
Fortunately, this story has a happier ending. According to public records, she survived her illness, and in 1895, at the age of 21, married Frank Magorty. They had two children, Alice and William, and she lived to the age of 70. She's buried in Colma's Holy Cross Cemetery.
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) June 24, 2022