Again, I want to point out the paternalistic and misogynistic language. "Snatched from the brink!" "Old hag." Auggh.
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) January 19, 2023
Again, I want to point out the paternalistic and misogynistic language. "Snatched from the brink!" "Old hag." Auggh.
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) January 19, 2023
So many girls were sent to the SF Magdalen Asylum out of bad situations at home. Take local teen Lizzie Tierney, who surrendered herself into police custody today in 1890, rather than give her dad the satisfaction of taking her directly to the Mag. pic.twitter.com/9tg14g1Arh
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) January 18, 2023
Today in 1889, local teen Maggie Cravens was at the SF Magdalen Asylum while deciding whether to remain at The Mag or go to the psychiatric hospital in Napa. Some of her caregivers believed she was mentally ill, though with "rational intervals." I wonder what she chose. pic.twitter.com/kTDerK9RHE
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) January 17, 2023
Today in 1889, 15-year-old "wayward" Bertha Ward was recently released from the SF Magdalen Asylum, because her mother challenged the terms of her imprisonment. But it makes no sense; the Mag was the girls' "wing" of the Industrial School for decades, beginning in 1868. pic.twitter.com/jsOyhXTNbz
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) January 16, 2023
Today in 1870, local teen Mary Queen was sentenced to the SF Magdalen Asylum for working in a brothel. The @sfexaminer only took enough time to ruin her name in the paper before moving on to a petition against the City's Grading Company bill. pic.twitter.com/w8MtXHstfP
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) January 15, 2023
Today in 1898, 16-year-old Amelia Mendoza was in jail and likely headed for the SF Magdalen Asylum after being picked up for "vagrancy." She's one of the only girls I've seen in this research with a Latinx last name, but I can't find anything more about her. pic.twitter.com/XXDVvRy71p
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) January 14, 2023
I feel for 15-year-old Mabel Gaffer. After her parents died, she fell in love and tried to sell her hair to run away with her beloved. Who can blame her? I doubt she said she "wanted to lead a bad life," but by this day in 1899 she was imprisoned in the SF Magdalen Asylum. pic.twitter.com/ZdhDrfwwYf
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) January 13, 2023
At first glance, it would appear that, today in 1895, 16yo Lizzie Kelly was sent to SF's Magdalen Asylum for flirting with a coachman. But the subtext is that Lizzie got pregnant. In addition to being a girls' prison, the asylum also served as a maternity home for unwed girls. pic.twitter.com/11MCedKZsU
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) January 12, 2023
Today in 1894, local teens Kate Williamson, Annie Blaney and Emma Kramer were booked at the SF Magdalen Asylum after escaping from another institution, hanging around with "hoodlums" and going to the theater. They were excited; only Mag ex-cons were "real out-and-out hoodlums." pic.twitter.com/FDWyYee8W2
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) January 12, 2023
Oh, for crying out loud. Today in 1898, Oakland teen Nora Sullivan was sentenced to the SF Magdalen Asylum for TRYING TO PLAY FOOTBALL. And for this her mother called her "incorrigible." pic.twitter.com/dvRbYoNwDm
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) January 11, 2023
But note the reporter's judgment of her "thieves' eyes, hard and bold and defiant," and how she "talks as calmly about stealing as a man who has been in San Quentin for a dozen crimes." As if she should just be pretty, meek and repentant.
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) January 10, 2023
Not for nothing, a San Francisco resident named Frank D. Mullin, born in 1870, enlisted in the National Guard two days after this article ran in the San Franciso Call. pic.twitter.com/GrorfYoKBh
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) January 7, 2023
Today in 1898, local teen Matha Nackle was destined for the SF Magdalen Asylum after helping three friends escape from the California Girls' Training Home in Alameda, which housed "delinquent" girls age 9 to 16. There were many such institutions for girls who stepped out of line. pic.twitter.com/uJlbcjJswj
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) January 4, 2023
Today in 1891, 15yo Lucilla Smith was back in the SF Magdalen Asylum for working in the Montana saloon on the Barbary Coast and giving her earnings to a serial grifter, George Reeves, who'd already exploited her older sister. The whole story feels like a societal breakdown. pic.twitter.com/EjC10K1bW3
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) January 3, 2023
I know she committed a real crime, but I'm getting Faith Lahane "Want. Take. Have." vibes from Ms. Herring. pic.twitter.com/6qo9R6p25V
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) January 2, 2023
Yesterday in 1886, teen Lizzie Davis testified against Harry Brooks, who was accused of "enticing" her away from home and installing her in a local brothel in order to make money off her sex work. She had already been sentenced to the SF Magdalen Asylum for her "wrongs." pic.twitter.com/8zbW3eV26G
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) January 1, 2023
It fought "profanation of the Lord's Day & profane swearing; publication of blasphemous, licentious & obscene books & prints; selling by false weights and measures; keeping of disorderly public houses, brothels and gaming houses; procuring; illegal lotteries; cruelty to animals."
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) December 31, 2022
Today in 1885, teen Annie Savage avoided SF's Magdalen Asylum! Her terrible father asked the court to sentence her, but the judge realized that Annie's dad just didn't want to pay to support her. Censuses show Annie was born in Ireland and remained in SF, single, until the '40s. pic.twitter.com/tjmMm8Ahue
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) December 30, 2022
Today in 1894, teen Lena C/Kramer was in the SF Magdalen Asylum after stealing $30 from the Steins, who employed her as a domestic servant, and buying a flashy new gold watch. 6 years later Lena was living in a boardinghouse on 6th and working as a laundress, per the 1900 census. pic.twitter.com/kgEYPNQpbv
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) December 29, 2022
Today in 1881, 14-year-old Mary Connell was sentenced to the SF Magdalen Asylum after being caught in a brothel with four other teen girls; most of the girls were also charged with "visiting a place of bad repute," and may have been sent to the Mag, too. Unclear. pic.twitter.com/vz2z8nWRrA
— Beth Winegarner (@bethwinegarner) December 28, 2022