PENITENTIARY OPENED ITS DOORS TO SOME OF THE WEST'S MOST DESPERATE
CRIMINALS.
THERE PROBABLY WASN'T
A LOT OF FANFARE...BUT
THERE WERE A FEW
WOMEN WHO WENT
THROUGH THAT SALLY
PORT.
AND NOT AS VISITORS.
THEIR REASONS FOR
INCARCERATION RANGE
FROM THE HORRIFYING TO
THE TOUCHINGLY FUNNY...
AS OUTLINED IN A NEW
BOOK CALLED,
"NUMBERED: INSIDE
IDAHO'S PRISON FOR
WOMEN."
KIM FIELDS TALKED WITH
THE CO-EDITOR OF THE
BOOK.. FOR A
FASCINATING LOOK AT
PART OF IDAHO'S HISTORY
THAT'S RARELY TALKED
ABOUT..... A 17 FOOT SANDSTONE WALL ENCIRCLES THE
WOMEN'S WARD AT THE
OLD IDAHO PENITENTIARY,
BUT EVEN THAT ISN'T TALL
ENOUGH TO CONTAIN THE
HISTORY OF THE WOMEN
INCARCERATED HERE ....
"JOSIE KENSLER WAS ONE
OF THE FIRST WOMEN
HOUSED HERE. AND SHE
WAS ONE OF THE
REASONS. A MAJOR
CONTROVERSY. SHE
BECAME PREGNANT WHILE
INCARCERATED," SAID
AMBER BEIERLE, CO-
EDITOR OF "NUMBERED:
INSIDE IDAHO'S PRISON
FOR WOMEN, 1887-1968."
AT 24, KENSLER WAS
CONVICTED, ALONG WITH
HER LOVER, FOR KILLING
HER HUSBAND IN ELMORE
COUNTY IN 1897.
AT THE TIME, IDAHO WAS
ONE OF ONLY THREE
STATES WITHOUT A
SEPARATE CELLBLOCK FOR
WOMEN. BUT KENSLER'S
SCANDALOUS CLAIM THAT
A GUARD IMPREGNATED
HER... WAS REASON
ENOUGH TO CREATE
SEPARATE FACILITIES IN
1906. THE FORMAL
WOMEN'S WARD WITH
SEVEN TINY DOUBLE-
OCCUPANCY CELLS AND A
CONCRETE DAYROOM
WAS COMPLETED IN 1920.
KIM ASKS, "IF YOU WERE
ARRESTED AND
CONVICTED, WHAT WAS IT
LIKE BACK THEN AS A
FEMALE INMATE?
"THERE WERE JUST A LOT
OF UNKNOWNS. ALL
CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES
WERE DESIGNED FOR MEN.
THE CRIMES WERE REALLY
DESIGNED WITH, NOT
WOMEN IN MIND. IT WAS
THOUGHT THAT MEN
WERE COMMITTING THESE
CRIMES, WOMEN DON'T
COMMIT CRIMES," SAID
BEIERLE.
THE NEW BOOK,
"NUMBERED," TELLS THE STORIES OF THE WOMEN WHO DID... LIKE 29 YEAR
OLD LYDA SOUTHARD,
WHO WAS IMPRISONED
LONGER THAN ANY OTHER
FEMALE INMATE. SHE
SERVED NEARLY 20 YEARS
FOR POISONING HER
HUSBAND WITH AN
ARSENIC APPLE PIE IN
1921.
SHE ESCAPED ONCE,
USING A HACKSAW. AND
WAS ON THE RUN FOR
ABOUT A YEAR, BEFORE
AUTHORITIES FOUND HER
IN KANSAS.
DUBBED LADY BLUEBEARD,
THE HOUSEWIFE FROM
TWIN FALLS WAS
NATIONALLY INFAMOUS
FOR HER ANTICS.
THEN THERE WAS ALTA
MCGEE, WHO SERVED
THREE MONTHS FOR
SHOOTING AT HER
ESTRANGED HUSBAND IN
A CROWD IN DOWNTOWN
BOISE IN 1908. THE 36
YEAR OLD RENTED A
CARRIAGE WITH A FRIEND
AND SEARCHED
DOWNTOWN BOISE FOR
HER WOMANIZING
HUSBAND. SHE FOUND
HIM IN AN AREA THAT IS
NOW CITY HALL. IT WAS
ONE OF BOISE'S FIRST
DRIVE-BY SHOOTINGS.
IN ALL -- 216 WOMEN
WERE NUMBERED AND
MUGSHOT AT THE OLD
IDAHO PENITENTIARY
FROM 1887 TO 1968,
WHEN THE WOMEN'S
WARD SHUT DOWN OVER
OVERCROWDING ISSUES
AND HEALTH CONCERNS.
"SOME OF THESE WOMEN
CAME AS SINGLE
MOTHERS, OBVIOUSLY
SOME OF THEM HAD NOT
ADAPTED WELL TO
SOCIETY, THEY DIDN'T
HAVE JOBS, THE MOST
COMMON
COMMON CRIME FOR WOMEN WAS FORGERY," SAID BEIERLE.
AMBER BEIERLE
ADMINISTERS THE OLD
IDAHO PEN AND IS CO-
EDITOR OF "NUMBERED."
THE IMPETUOUS FOR THIS
WAS THE IDAHO WOMEN
100, THE CELEBRATION OF
WOMEN GETTING THE
RIGHT TO VOTE. AND
REALLY WHAT WE
THOUGHT HERE WAS LET'S
EXPLORE WHAT HAPPENS
WHEN YOUR RIGHTS ARE
TAKEN AWAY, EXPLORING
WHAT IT MEANT FOR
WOMEN IN THAT TIME
AND THEN HOW THINGS
HAVE CHANGED AND
HOW SOME THINGS
HAVEN'T PROGRESSED,"
SAID BEIERLE.
SAID BEIERLE.
ALL
ALL TOO
ALL TOO OFTEN, THE FEMALE INMATES HOUSED HERE WERE WOMEN
WITHOUT MEANS.
WITHOUT A MAN TO
PROVIDE FINANCIAL
SUPPORT -- FORGERY,
ROBBERY AND
PROSTITUTION WERE
MOST OF THEIR CRIMES.
HELEN HALL, IMPRISONED
IN 1932 FOR RUNNING "A
HOUSE OF ILL FAME" IN
THE CITY OF SALMON.
PROSECUTORS THOUGHT
HER ORANGE-COLORED
EYES MEANT DEBAUCHERY.
TODAY, POVERTY AND
POOR EDUCATION
CONTINUES TO CRIPPLE 79
PERCENT OF WOMEN IN
PRISONS AND JAILS.
BUT UNLIKE THE ERA OF
THE OLD PEN, WHEN SIX
INMATES WERE THE MOST
ADMITTED IN ANY ONE
YEAR BEFORE THE CRIME
WAVE OF THE GREAT
DEPRESSION. TODAY, PER
CAPITA, BEIERLE SAYS
IDAHO RANKS FIFTH IN
THE NATION IN FEMALES
INCARCERATED. THE
STATE'S POPULATION OF
FEMALE OFFENDERS
GROWS AT DOUBLE THE
RATE FOR MEN.
"SO WHEN YOU HAVE AN
ENTIRE SYSTEM THAT WAS
CREATED AROUND HOW
YOU DEAL WITH MEN
COMMITTING THESE
CRIMES, IT CHANGED THE
GAME. THEY JUST DIDN'T
KNOW, THERE WAS
ALWAYS THIS PROBLEM OF
WHAT TO DO WITH
WOMEN. AND AGAIN,
THAT'S SOME OF THE
THINGS WE EXPLORE,"
SAID BEIERLE.
"WE REALLY TRY TO DIVE
INTO THE BEGINNINGS OF
WHAT THEY DID, WHAT
WORKED AND WHAT
DIDN'T. AND WHEN YOU
HAVE A SOCIETY WHERE
WE'RE CREATING THE
LAWS AROUND WHAT WE
WOULD DO WITH MEN,
THEN HOW CAN YOU
CREATE A SYSTEM THAT
WORKS AND FUNCTIONS
FOR WOMEN," SAID
BEIERLE.
HISTORY, BEIERLE WOULD
ARGUE, SHOULDN'T BE
CONTAINED BY A 17 FOOT
OUTER WALL. HER BOOK,
UNLOCKING THE PAST OF
IDAHO WOMEN FROM ALL
WALKS OF LIFE...
THAT'S HOW HISTORY IS
ESSENTIAL. THAT WE HAVE
TO GO BACK AND LOOK
AT THESE ISSUES WITH
WOMEN AND HOW IT
EFFECTED THEM THEN
AND THEN WE CAN
UNDERSTAND WHY WE'RE
IN THE PLACE WE ARE,
WHY SOME THINGS
HAVEN'T CHANGED, WHY
SOME THINGS HAVE.
BECAUSE THERE IS AN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT THAT SOME THINGS HAVE GOTTEN BETTER, BUT WE
STILL HAVE A LONG WAYS
TO GO," SAID BEIERLE.
AS
AS KIM
AS KIM MENTIONED, THE WOMEN'S WARD WAS USED UNTIL 1968, WHEN
FEMALE INCARCERATION
WAS TEMPORARILY
MOVED OUT OF STATE.
THE STATE EVENTUALLY
BUILT THE POCATELLO
WOMEN'S CORRECTIONAL
CENTER IN 1994 THAT CAN
HOUSE 331 INMATES.
THE SOUTH BOISE
WOMEN'S CORRECTIONAL
CENTER CAN HOLD 306
INMATES.
WE'VE GOT A LINK TO
HOW YOU CAN ORDER
"NUMBERED" IN THIS
STORY ON OUR WEBSITE.
BY THE WAY... THE OLD IS
NOW BACK OPEN FOR
TOURS.