New York State Industrial School Female Inmate Case History Books

Chronological by admission date; also numerical by inmate number.

These volumes contain basic information about the personal and family background of each inmate. Most of the information was entered at the time of admission and additional information was subsequently entered to describe the inmate's progress or changed status. The first volume contains handwritten, narrative case histories. In the last three volumes, information was entered on a standard printed form.

The following lists the categories of information entered in each case:

1876-1889 (volume 1): 1) Information on Inmate: name, date received, court of commitment, offense, value of property taken (if relevant), complainant, person with whom inmate lived, age, weight, height, eyes, hair, complexion, religion, and reading ability; 2) Information on Parent: name, religion, and work background.

Entries added beginning in 1889 (volumes 2-4): 1) Information on Inmate: plea, character of associates, apparent susceptibility to moral influences (volumes 2-3 only), previous arrests, institutional life, division assignments, date of parole, to whom paroled, relation, address, and comments on recommitments; 2) Information on Parent: residence, nativity, education, habits (temperate, steady), other facts (e.g., health), insanity, epilepsy in family, pecuniary circumstances (volumes 2-3 only), and number of children (volumes 2-3 only).

Newspaper clippings about an inmate or letters from an inmate after her discharge are sometimes interleaved or attached to the pages. More detailed information about each inmate, especially on the circumstances of commitment and parole, is contained in series A1961, Supplementary Case Files for Paroled Female Inmates, 1879-1905.

A microform use copy of the series is available at the New York State Archives; however, the copy is not available for use because of access restrictions that apply to the records.

A3118Series A3118, Index to case files of female inmates, indexes this series.

Alphabetical name index in each volume.

Restricted in accordance with Executive Law, Section 501-c(1)(b), relating to confidentiality of individuals in custody of the Division for Youth (now Office of Children and Family Services).