Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women
Encyclopedia
Incarceration of women
This article discusses the incarceration of women in correctional facilities.-History:In the United States, authorities began housing women in correctional facilities separate from men in the 1870s...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. At various times, the facility was also known as the Mercer Complex, Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Females, and Andrew Mercer Ontario Reformatory for Females. Located on King Street West in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, it opened in 1872 with the idealistic promise of a "homelike" atmosphere for its inmates. One of the major tenets of the reformatory was to instill feminine Victorian virtues
Victorian morality
Victorian morality is a distillation of the moral views of people living at the time of Queen Victoria's reign and of the moral climate of the United Kingdom throughout the 19th century in general, which contrasted greatly with the morality of the previous Georgian period...
such as obedience and servility. Work, such as cooking, baking, and cleaning were also a major part of prison life. According to one superintendent of the reformatory, "of all wretched women the idle are the most wretched. We try to impress upon them the importance of labour, and we look upon this as one of the great means of their reformation."
By 1965 three institutions made up what was then referred to as the Mercer Complex: the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women in Toronto, the Ontario Women's Guidance Centre, and the Ontario Women's Treatment Centre, both in Brampton
Brampton, Ontario
Brampton is the third-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada and the seat of Peel Region. As of the 2006 census, Brampton's population stood at 433,806, making it the 11th largest city in Canada. It is also one of Canada's fastest growing municipalities, with an average...
at what would become the Vanier Centre for Women in 1970. The Treatment Centre, originally part of the reformatory in Toronto, was set up in 1955 for the treatment of alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, drug addiction and psychiatric disorders. It was relocated to Brampton in 1963 and named the Ontario Women's Treatment Centre, also to become part of the Vanier Centre for Women. The Ontario Women's Guidance Centre opened in 1959 at the same site and concentrated on academic and vocational training.
At times the Mercer Reformatory also housed female offenders under age sixteen in a separate part of the building. These separate areas were distinctly known as the Industrial Refuge for Girls from 1880 to 1905 and the Ontario Training School for Girls from 1952 to 1960.
But despite its promising beginnings, the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women would become the centre of controversy with allegations of torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
, beatings, experimental drugs, and medical procedures, all in the name of reform and in 1964, a grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
was convened to investigate. That same year, on November 5, Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
journalist Lotta Dempsey reported the grand jury's findings of medical care so bad that "we could find no one with anything good to say about it." The jury also found that the rehabilitation process was so nonexistent that "the name of the institution should be changed to jail
Jail
A jail is a short-term detention facility in the United States and Canada.Jail may also refer to:In entertainment:*Jail , a 1966 Malayalam movie*Jail , a 2009 Bollywood movie...
, since it is in no sense a reform institution." Dungeon
Dungeon
A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period...
-like basement "bucket cells" used for solitary confinement
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
were 1.2 metres by just over 2 metres, with no windows or lights. Although the report of the grand jury was challenged, Dempsey reported that Toronto Star files were "full of stories of escapes from Mercer, harsh treatment of expectant mothers, riots," and more. In 1969, the reformatory was closed and demolished, being officially replaced by the Vanier Centre for Women in Brampton.
Today, the site of the old reformatory is home of the Lamport Stadium
Lamport Stadium
Allan A. Lamport Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium on King Street West in the Liberty Village neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is used mostly for soccer. It was built in 1974 on the site of the notorious Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women, opened in the fall of 1975 and holds 9,600...
and all that remains is the original superintendent's house at the corner of King Street and Fraser Avenue.
See also
- List of correctional facilities in Ontario