Albion State Training School Inmate Summary Data Card Files

Cards in five sets (each A-Z) are alphabetical by last name of inmate. Cards in the county index are alphabetical by county name and therein chronological by year.

The series consists of several card files which together comprise a "General Record" of women received at the Albion State Training School from 1893 through 1923, and confined during the period when the institution functioned as a reformatory (to 1931). The inmates were primarily teenagers (13-17) when they were received. Included are four complete alphabetical sets (A-Z), two of which have substantially more cards than the others; one complete set apparently pertaining solely to absolute discharges; and one complete set indexing some inmate names by county. The relationship among the various file sets is unclear. There is no easily discernable overlap, except for names listed in the discharge file (which may sometimes, but not always, appear in one of the larger summary records sets).

While the form of the printed cards changed over time, the four primary sets may contain the same summary information: inmate name (all female); number; date received; dates term commenced and expired; county; nationality; age; place of birth; offense; marital status ("condition"); education; occupation; religion; number of previous commitments; and a brief history giving date and/or type of discharge and to whom released (often blank in one of the smaller card sets).

Cards in the set for absolute discharges (ca. 500 cards) show inmate name, number, and date of discharge (sometimes labeled "Abs. Dis."). The majority of discharges date from 1893 to 1906, although there are a few as late as 1931. At the fore of the file are several dozen unarranged cards, dating predominately from the 1920s "to be filed with discharges".

Cards in the set comprising the county index typically show county name and names of inmates listed under separate years. Dates range from 1904 to 1927. There may be multiple cards for each county, and each card may show several succeeding years.

Included with the card sets is a very small number of newspaper articles from the Capital City News Bureau clipping service, all dated 1969, on youth center news, appointments and resignations, and meetings. These were apparently included by error when the original card drawers of Albion material were emptied.

Accessioning of these records resulted from a project by Archives staff in 1997 to identify and accession estrayed or unidentified records.

Summary information on adult inmates is disclosable under law. State Archives staff will review records containing probation, parole, medical, and juvenile criminal history data and disclose information pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law and Personal Privacy Protection Law. The identity of victims of sex crimes is not disclosable. Unless a specific law forbids disclosure indefinitely, all records must be disclosed after 75 years.