Bobbi-Jeanne Misick Gulf States Newsroom | February 8, 2023
On this archive image, a toddler does laundry at Alabama Industrial College for Negro Children in 1969. Adults who went to the faculty talked about they’ve been abused by the state all through their time there and even referred to it as a “slave camp” all through interviews for the “Unreformed” podcast.
When journalist Josie Duffy Rice acquired an e mail from artist and musician Lonnie Holley, she assumed it will likely be about his work. As an alternative, it was about his time at a jail for kids.
The Alabama Industrial College for Negro Children, now usually known as Mt. Meigs, was created over 100 years previously with the intention of rehabilitating Black kids that purchased in hassle with the laws. Nevertheless that’s not what occurred. The youngsters who went there have been abused by the state and even referred to it as a “slave camp.”
A model new podcast, “Unreformed: the Story of the Alabama Industrial College for Negro Children,” is telling the largely untold story of what really occurred at Mt. Meigs and the way in which Alabama’s jail licensed system allowed it to happen.
Duffy Rice is the host of the podcast. She spoke with the Gulf States Newsroom’s Bobbi-Jeanne Misick about why the story of these kids is rather more associated proper now.
The subsequent dialog has been edited and condensed for readability.
A promotional image of “Unreformed” host Josie Duffy Rice. Sooner than engaged on the podcast, Duffy Rice talked about she’d in no way heard of the Alabama Industrial College for Negro Children. ({Photograph} courtesy of College of Individuals and iHeartPodcasts)
I want to start at first on account of the story of how this bought right here to you is de facto fascinating. Your curiosity regarding the school started with an e mail, correct?
Positive. I purchased an e mail within the summertime of 2021 asking if I would want to be part of a mission about this school in Alabama. I had in no way heard of the faculty and that kind of surprised me. Nevertheless there was a lot that I assumed was really fascinating, along with that this well-known artist, Lonnie Holley, had gone to this institution. And the other issue I assumed was really fascinating on this e mail was the reality that the repercussions from what occurred on the faculty have been persevering with proper now. And so, that’s kind of what piqued my curiosity.
I needed to talk regarding the origin of this school. Mt. Meigs started with good intentions, it seems. It was started by the daughter of an enslaved girl who meant for it to be a spot to rehabilitate Black kids who had gotten in hassle with the laws. When did points change for the extra extreme?
Yeah, that’s exactly correct. It started as form of one other place for youngsters who’ve been in hassle to go, on account of in some other case, they’ve been merely going to grownup jail. And that’s throughout the convict leasing interval. The affect of grownup jail, even now could possibly be horrible, nevertheless once more then was deadly, really. And so, it existed in its form of larger kind, a minimum of for the first 4 years, from 1907 to 1911. And in 1911, it was purchased to the state of Alabama. And that’s when the goals of the faculty and the ambiance really started to shift. It didn’t all happen in a single day, nevertheless I’d positively say that is form of the important second that this school went from having good intentions to being solely a house of horrors, primarily.
House of horrors. Wow. For you, what was the significance of this origin story of being this rehabilitative place versus what it turned like? What caught out with you about that?
I cowl jail justice. I work in jail justice, and that’s really the place my career has been. And I’ve on a regular basis been kind of fascinated by how we cope with kids who’ve been accused of harm. And so, this school did on the early aspect have pretty laudable goals. I suggest, it wasn’t an excellent institution, however it had various the goals that we might want our system to have proper now. That, to me, was a very fascinating side of the story on account of it turns into very clear that after the state takes over, and as quickly because the considered punishment versus rehabilitation is on the desk, the state takes the punishment angle every time. And that could be a sample that we see proper now. It was somewhat extra categorical. It took only a few completely differing types, I really feel, of what the state did to Mt. Meigs after they took over. Nevertheless, in 112 years since then, we’re seeing various the same patterns even now in how we consider juvenile justice.
It’s such a tragic story and this school is appropriate outdoor of Montgomery. You grew up throughout the South and likewise you’d in no way heard of this school. And I take into consideration that’s true for many individuals. How do you assume this story has carried out beneath the radar?
That’s an essential question. I really feel there are just a few causes. The first one is there are many institutions like this. Not exactly like this — Mt. Meigs was considerably horrible in some distinctive strategies — nevertheless we have now now a historic previous on this nation of supply youngsters off to, quote-unquote, reformatories that are primarily prisons. We have a historic previous on this nation of using state power to punish youngsters and do the opposite of rehabilitatingBobbi-Jeanne Misick Gulf States Newsroom | February 8, 2023
On this archive image, a toddler does laundry at Alabama Industrial College for Negro Children in 1969. Adults who went to the faculty talked about they’ve been abused by the state all through their time there and even referred to it as a “slave camp” all through interviews for the “Unreformed” podcast.
When journalist Josie Duffy Rice acquired an e mail from artist and musician Lonnie Holley, she assumed it will likely be about his work. As an alternative, it was about his time at a jail for kids.
The Alabama Industrial College for Negro Children, now usually known as Mt. Meigs, was created over 100 years previously with the intention of rehabilitating Black kids that purchased in hassle with the laws. Nevertheless that’s not what occurred. The youngsters who went there have been abused by the state and even referred to it as a “slave camp.”
A model new podcast, “Unreformed: the Story of the Alabama Industrial College for Negro Children,” is telling the largely untold story of what really occurred at Mt. Meigs and the way in which Alabama’s jail licensed system allowed it to happen.
Duffy Rice is the host of the podcast. She spoke with the Gulf States Newsroom’s Bobbi-Jeanne Misick about why the story of these kids is rather more associated proper now.
The subsequent dialog has been edited and condensed for readability.
A promotional image of “Unreformed” host Josie Duffy Rice. Sooner than engaged on the podcast, Duffy Rice talked about she’d in no way heard of the Alabama Industrial College for Negro Children. ({Photograph} courtesy of College of Individuals and iHeartPodcasts)
I want to start at first on account of the story of how this bought right here to you is de facto fascinating. Your curiosity regarding the school started with an e mail, correct?
Positive. I purchased an e mail within the summertime of 2021 asking if I would want to be part of a mission about this school in Alabama. I had in no way heard of the faculty and that kind of surprised me. Nevertheless there was a lot that I assumed was really fascinating, along with that this well-known artist, Lonnie Holley, had gone to this institution. And the other issue I assumed was really fascinating on this e mail was the reality that the repercussions from what occurred on the faculty have been persevering with proper now. And so, that’s kind of what piqued my curiosity.
I needed to talk regarding the origin of this school. Mt. Meigs started with good intentions, it seems. It was started by the daughter of an enslaved girl who meant for it to be a spot to rehabilitate Black kids who had gotten in hassle with the laws. When did points change for the extra extreme?
Yeah, that’s exactly correct. It started as form of one other place for youngsters who’ve been in hassle to go, on account of in some other case, they’ve been merely going to grownup jail. And that’s throughout the convict leasing interval. The affect of grownup jail, even now could possibly be horrible, nevertheless once more then was deadly, really. And so, it existed in its form of larger kind, a minimum of for the first 4 years, from 1907 to 1911. And in 1911, it was purchased to the state of Alabama. And that’s when the goals of the faculty and the ambiance really started to shift. It didn’t all happen in a single day, nevertheless I’d positively say that is form of the important second that this school went from having good intentions to being solely a house of horrors, primarily.
House of horrors. Wow. For you, what was the significance of this origin story of being this rehabilitative place versus what it turned like? What caught out with you about that?
I cowl jail justice. I work in jail justice, and that’s really the place my career has been. And I’ve on a regular basis been kind of fascinated by how we cope with kids who’ve been accused of harm. And so, this school did on the early aspect have pretty laudable goals. I suggest, it wasn’t an excellent institution, however it had various the goals that we might want our system to have proper now. That, to me, was a very fascinating side of the story on account of it turns into very clear that after the state takes over, and as quickly because the considered punishment versus rehabilitation is on the desk, the state takes the punishment angle every time. And that could be a sample that we see proper now. It was somewhat extra categorical. It took only a few completely differing types, I really feel, of what the state did to Mt. Meigs after they took over. Nevertheless, in 112 years since then, we’re seeing various the same patterns even now in how we consider juvenile justice.
It’s such a tragic story and this school is appropriate outdoor of Montgomery. You grew up throughout the South and likewise you’d in no way heard of this school. And I take into consideration that’s true for many individuals. How do you assume this story has carried out beneath the radar?
That’s an essential question. I really feel there are just a few causes. The first one is there are many institutions like this. Not exactly like this — Mt. Meigs was considerably horrible in some distinctive strategies — nevertheless we have now now a historic previous on this nation of supply youngsters off to, quote-unquote, reformatories that are primarily prisons. We have a historic previous on this nation of using state power to punish youngsters and do the opposite of rehabilitating
