Minutes of monthly meetings

Chronological by date of meeting.

The Western House of Refuge was established in 1890 (Chapter 238) and operated under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Charities. Jurisdiction was transferred to the Department of Correction when that department was established in 1926 (Chapter 606).

In 1923 (Chapter 26), the name of the facility was changed to Albion State Training School.

In 1931 (Chapter 546) when the division for mentally defective women was transferred from the New York State Reformatory for Women at Bedford Hills to Albion the school became known as the Institution for Mentally Defective Delinquent Women. The following year (Laws of 1932, Chapter 585) year the name of the facility was changed back to the Albion State Training School.

This series consists of four volumes of typescript minutes of monthly meetings held by the Board of Visitors of the Albion State Training School and the Western Correctional Facility and the latter's predecessor institution, the Western Reformatory for Women.

The minutes cover the Board's monthly meetings from January 1942 to December 1946 and from January 1949 to December 1970. The minutes average approximately eight pages in length.

The minutes summarize activities at the institution during the previous month. They highlight special features of reports from the Superintendent, the Correctional Clerk, the school staff, hospital staff, dental clinic, and other areas of the institution. The reports discuss improvements to the physical plant, staff changes, developments in health and educational programs, emergencies, and special events. The report list numbers of inmates received and discharged during the month and provide a census of all inmates and infants. Also included is a list of numbers of inmates receiving dental and medical attention.

B1278-00: This accretion consists of copies of board of managers (later board of visitors) meeting minutes for the Western House of Refuge (later, Albion State Training School), January 1921 to December 1938. Information is typewritten and typically includes date, members present, resolutions made and voted on, treasurer's reports, physician's reports, other reports read and accepted, appointments and resignations from the board; also included is other business,inmate cases, and matters of policy discussed and acted upon. Names of inmates committed, discharged, and paroled are included.

Originally accessioned as part of old collection #520C, accession -446.

Restricted: pursuant to Personal Privacy Protection Law. Access may be permitted under certain conditions upon application to and approval by the State Archives.