Incorrigibles held a memorial ceremony on Monday, July 22, 2024, at 11:00 AM on the grounds of the Hudson Correctional Facility to honor the women and infants buried in a long-overlooked cemetery on the site. Read an article about the event by Michael Fitzgerald for The Imprint here: https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/new-york-memorial-service-incarcerated-girls/250819
The ceremony occurred at the small cemetery discovered on the grounds of the Hudson Correctional Facility — which previously housed the New York House of Refuge (1887 to 1904) and the New York State Training School for Girls (1904 to 1975). The House of Refuge was the second reformatory for women. The NYS Training School was the largest prison for girls in the country, incarcerating an estimated 15,000 young women during its 71-year history; Ella Fitzgerald being the most well-known.
The cemetery contains the graves of young women and infants who died while at the institutions. Many of the weathered stones bear only girls’ names – with no dates or epitaphs. “This ceremony is a crucial step in acknowledging a painful chapter in our history and working towards healing. It aims to restore dignity to those buried in the cemetery and raise awareness about the historical treatment of incarcerated girls and women,” said Alison Cornyn, director of the Incorrigibles project.
The one-hour ceremony included formerly incarcerated women and family members, local officials and others. Mayor Kamal Johnson, Reverend Kim Singletary of Overcomers Ministries in Hudson, author and former New York Times writer Nina Bernstein, and dancer Amanda Krische were among those who contributed.
“By uncovering this difficult history, we hope to spark important conversations about how society can better support young women today,” said Cynthia Boykin, a former Newburgh resident who was sent to the Training School at age 15 in the 1970s.
The Incorrigibles project organized the event, which followed a series of free public events and an exhibition, Incorrigibles: Bearing Witness to the Incarcerated Girls of New York,hosted at The Church – Staatsburg (https://www.thechurchstaatsburg.org), July 18-21, 2024 as part of Upstate Arts Weekend.
Humanities New York and The Mellon Foundation generously support these events through a Post Incarceration Humanities Project grant. The memorial ceremony was the first step in honoring those buried on this site. As part of this initiative, an offsite memorial in Hudson is being planned.
CONTACT: Alison Cornyn, director of the Incorrigibles Project – 917-575-1025 / alison.cornyn@gmail.com
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About Incorrigibles: “Incorrigibles,” a transmedia documentary project (https://stories.incorrigibles.org) that collects and tells the stories of “incorrigible” girls from 1900 to the present day, beginning with the stories of the girls incarcerated between 1904 and 1975 in the New York State Training School for Girls, once the largest youth prison for girls in the United States. “Incorrigibles” tells these once forgotten stories through free public events, site-specific exhibits, and the stories.incorrigibles.org website, and intergenerational community-building conversations and workshops.
