The Magdalen Society of Philadelphia
Introduction
The Magdalen Society and Asylum served as one of the primary institutions of reform for women throughout the time period of Issac Hopper’s diary. Many of the women mentioned throughout the Diary served their time at the Magdalen Asylum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania instead of spending time in prison. For many, the asylum could be seen as worse than prison.
Origins of the Magdalen Society
The birthplace of the Magdalene Society was not in Philadelphia, let alone the United States, rather, the Society had its roots in Ireland and England. Dating back to the 1600s, the Magdalen Society held their roots in reforming “fallen women.” While the Society was functional, they did not find a home until 1758, when the first laundry location opened in Whitechapel, England. The laundry aimed at helping women remove their sins by doing laundry. How was this supposed to work? The belief was simple; the process of washing laundry would also wash away one's sins. Eventually, this method of reform spread and was accepted by Ireland.[1] The Magdalen Society continued to expand, reaching into France in 1835. It was also around this time that the Society began to expand into the United States.
History of the Philadelphia Magdalen Society
It was 1800, when a group of twenty-two Philadelphians met at the Friends Meeting House to organize the formation of the first “reclamation society” for women in the United States.[2] What inspired the formation of this society, which would later be known as the Magdalen Society? The story behind the formation is one plagued in male death. In August 1800, two men met at a “house of ill fame” in the town of Southwark. It was here that a fight broke out, resulting in the death of one man. It was a few nights later that the group of Philadelphians met and vowed to destroy all houses associated with prostitution.[3] The vow to destroy all houses of prostitution was not rooted in the goal to help women, rather about how the problem affected men. Thus, the Magdalen Society was born.
The Society was founded by male members of the Episcopal or Presbyterian churches. The President of the Society, at the time of its founding, William White, was one of the highest-ranking bishops in the United States. Furthermore, the Magdalen Society in London, provided much of the guidance that the Philadelphia Society used.[4]
According to the Society’s records, its purpose was to help restore the paths of virtue to women who have lost their way. Moreover, the Society proposed that it would deal with only women who were unmarried and sexually active. One of the Society’s primary figures who inspired the goal, was Mary Magdalene. According to Biblical texts, Mary Magdalene was a woman “from whom Jesus cast out seven demons” and was commonly referred to as a prostitute.[5]
Beginning of the Home
Through a series of fundraisers, Bishop William White and other members of the Society opened the Magdalen Home. Similar to the aim of the Society, the asylum was dedicated to reforming prostitutes and other troubled women.[8] The asylum first opened in 1808 located at what is now 21st Street in Philadelphia, PA. During the first ten years of the asylum’s operation, there were no more than twelve women present at a time. Requirements to be eligible for the home were strict. It was known that pregnant women, ill women, and African-American women were not allowed to reside at the home, nor were they allowed to be a part of the Society.
Home to Asylum
The rules to live within the home were strict. For example, the women were not permitted to discuss the circumstances in which they lived before the home. Moreover, the women were required to read Scriptures, avoid profane language, and the women were not allowed to leave the home without permission of the administration.[9]
By 1811, the home began to take on the appearance of an asylum and prison, first by construction of a fence, to prevent women from escaping. Through the 1820s, women were recruited as matron’s assistants and into other leadership positions. By the 1830s, leadership within the asylum was a mix of men and women.
The Home Changes...
Through the 1830s and 1840s, the number of “patients” that resided in the asylum remained relatively small. In 1845, a new extension of the asylum was built, which is the asylum that is known during the time of Issac T. Hopper. Even with the addition of the new facility, there was still a high number of vacancies. It was in 1848, that the Magdalen Asylum began to seek out residents, through aggressive means. The Board of Managers hired Oliver Brooks to recruit women into the asylum. Moreover, in 1850, the Board of Managers entered into an agreement with the city of Philadelphia, in which certain women were sent to the asylum instead of prison.[10] The Magdalen Asylum looked into ways to change their policies, on order to solve the problems regarding vacancies. During the 1850s, the Asylum changed the policies, thus making it mandatory for all patients to remain at the Asylum for at least a year. This change was made under the guise completing rehabilitation. By the end of the 1850s, the Asylum had seen close to one thousand “fallen women.” Of these women, the majority were young, unmarried, and sexually active immigrants. As seen with many, these women supported themselves through the means of prostitution.[11]
The Magdalene Asylum continued to operate in its current manner until 1914. Sometime during 1914, the City of Philadelphia condemned the Magdalen Asylum, for reasons unknown, which forced them to relocate. It was at this point that the Asylum moved into Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and changed the name to the White-Williams Foundation for Girls. Today, the Asylum does not function, but the Society is still present. Now under the name of the White-Williams Scholars, the Society provides scholarships to those who excel in academics.[12]
Functions of the Asylum
Between the course of 1836 and 1908, the Magdalen Asylum of Philadelphia was home to over two thousand inmates. During their time at the Asylum, “fallen women” were isolated from their former lives and were exposed to a strict regimen of prayer and piecework. For this section, the focus will be the specifics of the Magdalen Asylum.
The Magdalen Asylum focused on a reform program that followed two specific courses. First, the Asylum would reform a woman's soul and then retrain the body. For this purpose, "fallen women" would become servants, laundresses, or laborers in the textile factories, or a mothers and wives. Further, reformed women were prepared for the existing occupations and opportunities provided, as there would be no focus on creating new ones.
De Cunzo describes life inside the asylum in detail, 'Her removal to the asylum physically separated her from her previous life and identity. There the matron escorted the entering Magdalen to her chamber, symbolically closing five doors on the woman’s old self as she wound her way through and up the umbilical-like passages. Ultimately she emerged in a safe, secure, isolated chamber deep within the asylum’s walls. Now disoriented, the Magdalen would remove her clothes and other personal effects, and replace them with the asylum uniform, the short gown of the working woman. The matron assigned the new Magdalen her ritual name (a number assigned consecutively to women entering the asylum), and reviewed the rules. In the asylum’s workroom, kitchen, dining room, and garden, the Magdalens learned domestic skills and performed social rituals. Excavated ceramics and glassware suggest the dining paraphernalia embodied a permanently liminal identity for the Magdalen: economically and socially that of the working woman, morally that of the middle class, virtuous wife and mother.'"[13]
A Prison or Not?
To many, the Magdalen Asylum was seen as a prison, rather than an institution of reform. Why is this the case? The Asylum can be considered a prison, simply based on the characteristics it exhibits. The Asylum was known for doing the following: [14]
- The sentencing of inmates through the criminal courts
- Removing the sense of identify from the inmates
- Involuntary confinements
- Isolation from the outside world.
When you compare these characteristics to the definition of a prison, the results are quite similar. According to the American Heritage Dictionary of English Language, a prison can be defined as a “place of confinement for crimes and of forcible restraint, and if the person committed to these places cannot leave when they want to and are, in fact, confined against their will, it becomes irrelevant whether the place is called a prison…”[15]
For most of the years the Asylum was functioning, there were detailed records of the lives of many inmates, as well as, many of their fates once they left the Asylum. Before going into detail on some of the inmates of the Asylum, let us discuss the average duration of stay between 1836 and 1857. See table one.[16]
Why Did You Leave?
Based on the table, during the period that Issac Hopper was sending women to the Asylum, many of them were only there for under a month. While this was the case for many women, there was the small percentage of women that stayed for more than a year. What were the reasons for women leaving the Asylum? Table two presents a series of reasons between 1836 and 1868, as to why women left the Asylum. See table two.[17]
During the time that Issac Hopper was sending women to the Asylum, these women were leaving primarily on their own accord. Furthermore, a vast majority of women were also dismissed for improper conduct (which was not defined) and at the request of their friends. A small majority of the women passed away while in the asylum and the other inmates left for various reasons.
Inmates of the Magdalen Asylum
Throughout the course of his diary, Hopper encountered a significant number of women that were either at the Magdalen Asylum or were sent there at their request or his own request. The following stories are diary transcriptions of some of the women who were at the Magdalen Asylum:
Conclusion
The Magdalen Society of Philadelphia and Asylum, one of the first institutions for women in the United States, operated for over a hundred years before closing. It was here that countless women were sent to be reformed. Even Hopper was under the belief that the Asylum was beneficial to the women being held there. Yet, multiple accounts and studies suggest that the Asylum was not as beneficial as it appeared. To many, it was seen as a prison, for it fit the characteristics. Why, knowing the horrors that many faced, did Hopper send women to the institution? It is possible that Hopper was unaware of the atrocities that went on within the Asylum or was never allowed to the visit. It is impossible to know what the truth really is. Knowing all this, did the Magdalen Asylum accomplish the goals it intended to accomplish? To me, I do not believe so. The accounts provided and the research found show that it was not the case.
For unknown reasons, the Asylum was forced out of Philadelphia. Could it be the city was aware of the atrocities going on and could no longer tolerate it? Was the Asylum in disrepair and unfit to use? To this day, the answers are unknown.
Today, it is clear that the standards within the Magdalen Asylum were unacceptable and changes have occurred within the prison system to ensure that these atrocities would never be repeated...
Footnotes
[1] Michelle Jones and Lori Record, "Magdalene Laundries: The First Prisons for Women in the United States," Journal of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences, 1st ser., 17 (2017): 170, https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/jiass/vol17/iss1/12/.
[2] Lu Ann De Cunzo, "Reform, Respite, Ritual: An Archaeology of Institutions: The Magdalen Society of Philadelphia, 1800-1850," Historical Archaeology, 3rd ser., 29 (1995), 15 , accessed April 10, 2019, : https://www.jstor.org/stable/25616415.
[3] Lu Ann De Cunzo, "Reform, Respite, Ritual: An Archaeology of Institutions: The Magdalen Society of Philadelphia, 1800-1850," Historical Archaeology, 3rd ser., 29 (1995), 15 , accessed April 10, 2019, : https://www.jstor.org/stable/25616415.
[4] Leslie Hunt, "Magdalen Society of Philadelphia Records," The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 2016, 1, accessed April 8, 2019, https://hsp.org/sites/default/files/legacy_files/migrated/findingaid201….
[5] Lu Ann De Cunzo, "Reform, Respite, Ritual: An Archaeology of Institutions: The Magdalen Society of Philadelphia, 1800-1850," Historical Archaeology, 3rd ser., 29 (1995), 15 , accessed April 10, 2019, : https://www.jstor.org/stable/25616415.
[6] Leslie Hunt, "Magdalen Society of Philadelphia Records," The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 2016, 1, accessed April 8, 2019, https://hsp.org/sites/default/files/legacy_files/migrated/findingaid201….
[7] Leslie Hunt, "Magdalen Society of Philadelphia Records," The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 2016, 2, accessed April 8, 2019, https://hsp.org/sites/default/files/legacy_files/migrated/findingaid201….
[8] Leslie Hunt, "Magdalen Society of Philadelphia Records," The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 2016, 1, accessed April 8, 2019, https://hsp.org/sites/default/files/legacy_files/migrated/findingaid201….
[9] Leslie Hunt, "Magdalen Society of Philadelphia Records," The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 2016, 2, accessed April 8, 2019, https://hsp.org/sites/default/files/legacy_files/migrated/findingaid201….
[10] Leslie Hunt, "Magdalen Society of Philadelphia Records," The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 2016, 1, accessed April 8, 2019, https://hsp.org/sites/default/files/legacy_files/migrated/findingaid201….
[11] Lu Ann De Cunzo, "On Reforming the "Fallen" and Beyond: Transforming Continuity at the Magdalen Society of Philadelphia, 1845—1916," International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 1st ser., 5 (March 2001): 24, https://www.jstor.org/stable/20852964.
[12] Leslie Hunt, "Magdalen Society of Philadelphia Records," The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 2016, 3, accessed April 8, 2019, https://hsp.org/sites/default/files/legacy_files/migrated/findingaid201….
[13] Martin Hall and Stephen W. Silliman, eds., Historical Archaeology (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006), 177-178.
[14] Michelle Jones and Lori Record, "Magdalene Laundries: The First Prisons for Women in the United States," Journal of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences, 1st ser., 17 (2017): 174, https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/jiass/vol17/iss1/12/.
[15] [2] Michelle Jones and Lori Record, "Magdalene Laundries: The First Prisons for Women in the United States," Journal of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences, 1st ser., 17 (2017): 174, https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/jiass/vol17/iss1/12/.
[16] Steven Ruggles, "Fallen Women: The Inmates of the Magdalen Society Asylum of Philadelphia, 1836-1908," Journal of Social History, 4th ser., 16 (1983): 68, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3786992.
[17] Steven Ruggles, "Fallen Women: The Inmates of the Magdalen Society Asylum of Philadelphia, 1836-1908," Journal of Social History, 4th ser., 16 (1983): 70, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3786992.