Title: Wisconsin Home for Women: Case Files (Institutional Series)
Inclusive Dates: 1921-1954

Creator:

• Wisconsin Home for Women

Call Number: Series 2081

Quantity: 78 c.f. (78 record center cartons)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Records of women who were discharged from the Wisconsin Home for Women and its predecessor institutions at Taycheedah, the Wisconsin Industrial Home for Women and the Wisconsin Prison for Women from 1921 to 1954. The files typically include a summary face sheet, medical and psychiatric examination records, photographs, and various administrative records relating to confinement, release on parole, and discharge. Women imprisoned at Waupun between 1921 and 1933 are not included in Series 2081, and no case files for this population are known to exist.

Note:

There is a restriction on access to this material; see the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-ser02081

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Series 2081 is arranged alphabetically for women discharged between 1921 and 1942 and numerically by the T-Number assigned at the time of discharge for women released between 1943 and 1954. The alphabetical files are further subdivided into two groups: 1) women released between 1921 and 1940 and 2) women released during 1941 and 1942. The second group is individually listed in the Container List which follows.

The T-Number files are indexed by Series 2101, the Master File Cards. In addition, the Monthly Lists in Series 2381 provide convenient access to particular categories of inmates.

This series is continued in Wisconsin. Division of Corrections. Institutionalized Adult Case Files, 1955-1967 (Series 2085) and Adult and Juvenile Case Files (Central Office), 1967-1994 (Series 2088). Bureau of Probation and Parole Case Files, 1940-1951 (Series 2084) contains duplicate and supplemental information for women discharged from 1940 to 1951.

Success in finding the file for a particular adult female inmate depends on the period when she was incarcerated, the institution where she was imprisoned, and her age. In general, because of their smaller volume and the special circumstances and attitudes about women prisoners, documentary coverage in the Archives is much more complete for women than for men, completely covering the adult female population from 1943 to 1983 and almost completely documenting women prisoners for the period 1921 to 1943.

Pre-1921

Prior to 1921, women were imprisoned at Waupun, the Milwaukee House of Corrections, and various county jails. There are no case files for women imprisoned during this period, although some case file-like personal information is included in the Waupun Prison Inmate Conduct Records (Series 1379).

1921-1954

Coverage improves with the construction of the reformatory for women at Taycheedah in 1921 and the creation of a new institutional series of inmate records. Series 2081, the Institutional Case Files, and Series 1397, the Case History Books, document all women housed at that institution. However, this series does not represent all women prisoners of that era. Older women (those over 30) and more serious female offenders continued to be housed at Waupun until 1933 when the Wisconsin Prison for Women, also at Taycheedah, was opened. Thereafter the files about this population was included in Series 2081. There are no case files, however, for these women either in the Waupun or Taycheedah records for the period before 1933 although the Parole Officer's Case Files for Women Prisoners at Waupun (Series 2380), contains some information on a few inmates.

For the period 1921-1942 the Series 2081 files are alphabetically arranged; after 1943 they are arranged by T-number and indexed by Series 2101. This T number is also essential for access to most later cases files.

Two Central Office series contain supplemental information for women prisoners during the pre-1954 period: Series 2084, Probation and Parole Case files, 1940-1951, and Series 2083, Case records of parolees and inmates of correctional institutions, 1945-1950. Both of these series are arranged by T-number.

1954-1990

After 1954, coverage of women prisoners changes from institutional records to files maintained in the Central Office in which the records of women were grouped together with men in “Institutional Adult Case files (Central Office), 1954-1967” and then for the period 1967 to 1990 with juveniles as well in “Adult and Juvenile Case files (Central Office)” (Series 2088).

From 1983 to 1990 the case files of women prisoners were sampled in the Archives, a practice that had previously been used to reduce the volume of case files for men. As a result, only 10% of the original female population was documented by individual files. Researchers should ask the Reference Room for the list of all retained T number files.

Access Restrictions

Portions of these files are confidential under §§ 51.30 and 146.82, Wis. Stats., relating to patient health and mental illness treatment records. Researchers desiring to use these records should consult the Reference Archivist.

	Series: Alphabetical Files, 1921-1942
	Subseries: 1921-1940
Box   1	Aaron-Banks
Box   2	Baker-Bensinger
Box   3	Bergesson-Brinker
Box   4	Bro-Busby
Box   5	Bushey-Chinn
Box   6	Chojnaki-Cote
Box   7	Cotten-DeGraff
Box   8	Delaney-Dunsee
Box   9	Durant-Feldon
Box   10	Feldon-Gardini
Box   11	Garsow-Gray
Box   12	Grayburn-Hanley
Box   13	Hanson-Hock
Box   14	Hockady-Hutto
Box   15	Huybers-Johnson
Box   16	Johnson-Kelly
Box   17	Kennedy-Knuteson
Box   18	Kocha-Krzeminski
Box   19	Krzykwa-Laduke
Box   20	Laufenburg-Losey
Box   21	Losey-Makwoski
Box   22	Malmstadt-Malang
Box   23	Mandoza-Milliken
Box   24	Murphy-Norlock
Box   25	Novack-Olszevski
Box   26	Olszewski-Pellerin
Box   27	Pembrook-Pollack
Box   28	Pomeroy-Rennet
Box   29	Rennet-Ryan
Box   30	Ryman-Schroeder
Box   31	Schultz-Simonds
Box   32	Sinclair-Spah
Box   33	Spake-Szablewski
Box   34	Tague-Trost
Box   35	Tuwex-Waleckl
Box   36	Walters-Westfall
Box   37	Westphal-Wilson
Box   38	Wimmer-Z
	Subseries: 1941-1942	⇧
Box   39	Anderson, Edna E.
Box   39	Anderson, Mattie
Box   39	Angler, Alberta
Box   39	Bailey, Faith
Box   39	Bauer, Elizabeth
Box   39	Badzinski, Mary
Box   39	Bear, Violet
Box   39	Beckwith, Melba
Box   39	Belken, Lucille
Box   39	Bell, Pearl
Box   39	Benner, Marie
Box   39	Bennett, Ruth P.
Box   39	Benzinger, Marie
Box   39	Bliven, Emma
Box   39	Boelter, Pauline
Box   39	Buchert, Mabel
Box   39	Brewer, Virginia
Box   39	Briggs, Helen Marie
Box   39	Brommer, Mercedes
Box   39	Burke, Alma
Box   39	Burrows, Lela
Box   39	Botz, Ruth
Box   39	Calkins, Gladys
Box   39	Campolo, Martha
Box   39	Cartwright, Flora
Box   39	Casoria, Orsola
Box   39	Cellar, Hazel
Box   39	Chewe, Arlene
Box   39	Congdon, Ella
Box   39	DeRosier, Beatrice
Box   39	Dickenson, Josephine
Box   39	Dishneau, Rose
Box   40	Dobschuetz, Mardale
Box   40	Dorn, Margaret Laura
Box   40	Douglas, June
Box   40	Durgin, Grace
Box   40	Engler, Nellie
Box   40	Evans, Nora
Box   40	Fauver, Frances
Box   40	Galkowski, Wanda
Box   40	Gardner, Margaret M.
Box   40	Garsow, Bernadine
Box   40	Geddert, Virginia
Box   40	George, Louise
Box   40	Gigante, Helen
Box   40	Giles, Loma
Box   40	Gilman, Mary McDaniel
Box   40	Gjavenis, Mary
Box   40	Goetz, Kathleen
Box   40	Gustafson, Bertha
Box   40	Hall, Lola
Box   40	Harley, Marietta
Box   40	Hart, Bernice
Box   40	Harty, Leona
Box   40	Hatfield, Mary
Box   40	Hauser, Ruth
Box   40	Hensley, Patricia
Box   40	Irish, Anna
Box   40	Ivanovich, Elizabeth
Box   40	Jackiewicz, Violet
Box   40	Jarrett, Bertha
Box   40	Jeampierre, Charlotte
Box   40	Johnson, Bertha Marie
Box   40	Johnson, Curley
Box   41	Kaufert, Charlotte
Box   41	Kieck, Genevieve
Box   41	Kitchen, Elizabeth
Box   41	Kollath, Joan Georgian
Box   41	Korzilius, Alice
Box   41	Krohn, Florence
Box   41	Lamb, Loretta Marie
Box   41	Larson, Betty
Box   41	Le May, Dorothy C.
Box   41	Ludack, Catherine
Box   41	McAleer, Lorraine
Box   41	McCammant, Mary
Box   41	Manning, (Kleinmaus) Irene
Box   41	Metcalf, Ethel
Box   41	Miner, Bessie
Box   41	Moore, Jane
Box   41	Nanson, Velda
Box   41	Ness, Adahlia
Box   41	Nohr, Neadice
Box   41	Ollinger, Elaine (Court Testimony)
Box   41	Otter, Viola Krueger
Box   41	Paige, Betty
Box   41	Peterson, Theda
Box   41	Pleen, Opal
Box   41	Potts, Celia
Box   41	Phillips, Mildred
Box   41	Provenzano, Rose
Box   41	Rath, Evelyn
Box   41	Raymond, Frances
Box   41	Rentmeister, Marjorei
Box   41	Rosche, Alice L.
Box   41	Rudebush, Marion
Box   41	Salisbury, Laura
Box   41	Sanders, Jeanette
Box   42	Schlesak, Mary Physical Description: (2 folders)
Box   42	Scholzen, Margaret
Box   42	Schontube, Marion D.
Box   42	Schrank, Marie
Box   42	Sell, Anna M.
Box   42	Sharon, Josephine
Box   42	Silvonen, Mary
Box   42	Skye, Elsie
Box   42	Styka, Mathilda N.
Box   42	Tallar, Lucille M.
Box   42	Tepler, Ruth Martin
Box   42	Toy, Helen
Box   42	Vielleux, Ellen
Box   42	Vanderpool, Lucille
Box   42	Van Rite, Loretta Physical Description: (2 folders)
Box   42	Wagner, Lucille Mae
Box   42	Walters, Martha
Box   42	Welborn, Ida May
Box   42	Wheeler, Beulah
Box   42	Yehle, Phyllis Henning
Box   42	Zahn, Minnie
Box   42	Zahn, Elizabeth Mae
Box   42	Zanella, Mary
	Series: T-Number Files, 1943-1954	⇧
Box   43	TX22071 -- TX22967
Box   44	TX23000 -- TX23682
Box   45	TX23830 -- TX24410
Box   46	TX24465 -- TX24803
Box   47	TX24884 -- TX25363
Box   48	TX25574 -- TX26054
Box   49	TX26072 -- TX26734
Box   50	TX26753 -- TX27267
Box   51	TX27355 -- TX27875
Box   52	TX27978 -- TX28530
Box   53	TX28538 -- TX29000
Box   54	TX29174 -- TX29722
Box   55	TX29800 -- TX30321
Box   56	TX30326 -- TX30961
Box   57	TX31007 -- TX31599
Box   58	TX31680 -- TX32816
Box   59	TX32020 -- TX32818
Box   60	TX33050 -- TX34075
Box   61	TX34090 -- TX35050
Box   62	TX35070 -- TX36082
Box   63	TX36091 -- TX36894
Box   64	TX36922 -- TX37591
Box   65	TX37596 -- TX38403
Box   66	TX38447 -- TX39051
Box   67	TX39160 -- TX39900
Box   68	TX40000 -- TX41058
Box   69	TX41075 -- TX42138
Box   70	TX42286 -- TX42952
Box   71	TX42980 -- TX44037
Box   72	TX44102 -- TX44883
Box   73	TX44933 -- TX45835
Box   74	TX45850 -- TX46952
Box   75	TX46848 -- TX47772
Box   76	TX47972 -- TX49093
Box   77	TX49071 -- TX50078
Box   78	TX50059 -- TX51234