Policing Immorality in a Virginia Girls' Reformatory.

This article examines the 1913 investigation into the reform practices of the all-white Virginia Home and Industrial School for Girls. Fueled by rumors of hard labor performed by inmates under the supervision of an African American man, this incident reveals the complexities in how progressive refor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Southern Cultures Vol. 25; no. 2; pp. 46 - 62
Main Author: Bush, Erin N.
Format: Article
Published: University of North Carolina Press Summer2019
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        atl: Policing Immorality in a Virginia Girls' Reformatory.
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        au: Bush, Erin N.
      su:
        Education of girls
        Men's sexual behavior
        Juvenile delinquency
        Social control
        Paternalism
        White supremacy
      sug:
        subj:
          Education of girls
          Men's sexual behavior
          Juvenile delinquency
          Social control
          Paternalism
          White supremacy
      keyword:
        girl problem
        juvenile delinquency
        male sexuality
        New South
        social control
      ab: This article examines the 1913 investigation into the reform practices of the all-white Virginia Home and Industrial School for Girls. Fueled by rumors of hard labor performed by inmates under the supervision of an African American man, this incident reveals the complexities in how progressive reformers constructed and managed Virginia's "girl problem" within an environment of paternalism, class rule, and white supremacy. In defense of their program, reformatory staff testified that certain outsiders—all of them white, male laborers—had attempted to "interfere" with the girls incarcerated inside. The interlocking dynamics of gender, race, and class that emerged reveal a rare moment of discussion over the need for social control legislation targeting white, working-class men. Thus, the investigation and its aftermath indicate that it took a public race scandal to attempt to establish the limits of white men's sexual access to young women.
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    language: English
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