The Mount Meigs Campus is a juvenile corrections facility of the

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

; the campus serves as the agency's administrative headquarters.Mt. Meigs Campus
."

Alabama Department of Youth Services The Alabama Department of Youth Services (DYS) is a state agency of Alabama, headquartered on the grounds of the Mount Meigs Campus in Mount Meigs, and in Montgomery.Interstate 85 Interstate 85 (I-85) is a major Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with I-65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus is an interchange with I-95 in Petersburg, Virginia, n ...

North and about east of Downtown Montgomery. Since 2015, the separate J. Walter Wood Treatment facility for 24 girls is also located in the Mount Meigs Campus.

History

In 1888,

Cornelia Bowen Cornelia Bowen (1865-1934) was an African American teacher and school founder from Alabama. She was in the first graduating class of the Tuskegee Institute and went on to found the Mount Meigs Colored Institute as well as the Mt. Meigs Negro Bo ...

was recommended by

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

to establish a school for boys and girls in Mount Meigs area. Cornelia Bowen graduated from the

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

in 1885, a member of the first graduating class, and led the Mount Meigs Colored Institute until her death in 1934. In 1908, the State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, of which Bowen was president, established a second school on the grounds of the Institute. After much lobbying of Congress, in 1911, the women were successful in convincing the state to take over the operation of the reformatory. In 1911, the school became the Alabama Reform School for Juvenile Negro Law-Breakers. The name was changed to the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children in 1947, and to the Alabama Industrial School in 1970. On March 27, 1915, the

Hampton Institute Camera Club Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales * Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick *Ham ...

, known for its illustrations of

Paul Laurence Dunbar Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American C ...

's poetry, staged a photo sale for the benefit of the Mt. Meigs school. The sale raised funds for four five-dollar scholarships for day students. A Hampton graduate managed the Mt. Meigs school, which was considered "an outgrowth" of Hampton. Famous residents included baseball legend Leroy

Satchel Paige Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction in ...

, from 1918-1923. Earlier in its life, its capacity was 312 boys. There was controversy, in April 2008, when parent Glenn Herrmann said authorities surrounded his Randolph County home and accused him of helping his son break free at the Mount Meigs Campus. In 2012, the infamoushttp://lubbockonline.com/stories/061701/upd_sexscandal.shtml

Chalkville Campus Chalkville Campus was a correctional facility for girls of the Alabama Department of Youth Services The Alabama Department of Youth Services (DYS) is a state agency of Alabama, headquartered on the grounds of the Mount Meigs Campus in Mount Meigs ...

facility for girls aged 12 to 18 was destroyed by a tornado and in 2015 the new J. Walter Wood Treatment facility for them was inaugurated at the Mount Meigs campus.

References

External links

Mount Meigs Campus
-

Alabama Department of Youth Services The Alabama Department of Youth Services (DYS) is a state agency of Alabama, headquartered on the grounds of the Mount Meigs Campus in Mount Meigs, and in Montgomery.Prisons in Alabama Buildings and structures in Montgomery County, Alabama 1911 establishments in Alabama African-American history of Alabama

History

See also

References

External links