According to Isaac Hopper’s record, many women were sentenced to Sing Sing prison for a variety of reasons.  Women in Sing Sing prison were separated from the men, but the conditions of their part of the prison were no better.  In 1837, part of the original building was portioned off for the female inmates and two years later a separate building was built for the women.  The women’s cellblock was called Mount Pleasant and was located on a hill behind Sing Sing.  Mount Pleasant was essentially independently operated from Sing Sing, the building included the matron’s quarters, workshops, a nursery, a chapel area, and two separate punishment cells. The women’s complex had a high level of security, including a massive wall surrounding the entire area.  The separate building contained only 81 cells, which were rapidly filled and overfilled with inmates.  Women dealt with overcrowding and poor sanitary conditions.  Overcrowding became such a problem that in 1843 there were a string of riots.  It became difficult for the matron to control the women, they continually had access to speaking to the male prisoners working at the nearby quarry. Women were also put to work during the day just like the men.  They manufactured items like clothes and bedding, and according to Isaac Hopper’s diary, some made buttons.    

Punishment at Mount Pleasant was incredibly severe and included strait jackets, solitary confinement, the shower-bath, and near starvation.  One of the more appalling punishments was gagging the women, although unlike the men the women were never whipped or lashed.  

One of the most notable matrons of Mount Pleasant was Eliza Farnham.  She introduced a more positive structure to the prison and increased the educational opportunities for the women.  Farnham also rejected the more abusive physical punishments, and abolished the rule of silence.  Farnham was matron from 1843 to 1847, after her departure the conditions of Mount Pleasant decreased exponentially.  Overcrowding eventually got so bad that the prison was housing double its capacity.  In 1865, Mount Pleasant was closed to new inmates and ten years later the remaining prisoners were transferred to another penitentiary.    

Sources:

Cheli, Guy. Sing Sing Prison. Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2003. 15.

Rafter, Nicole Hahn. "Prisons for Women, 1790-1980." Crime and Justice 5 (1983): 140-142. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1147471.