Julia Tutwiler
Encyclopedia
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
and prison reform
Prison reform
Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, aiming at a more effective penal system.-History:Prisons have only been used as the primary punishment for criminal acts in the last couple of centuries...
in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. Graduating in the first class of Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
, she served as co-principal of the Livingston Female Academy, and then the first (and only) woman president of Livingston Normal College
University of West Alabama
The University of West Alabama is a public university located in Livingston, Alabama, United States. It is currently on probation with its regional accrediting body....
(now the University of West Alabama
University of West Alabama
The University of West Alabama is a public university located in Livingston, Alabama, United States. It is currently on probation with its regional accrediting body....
).
Early life and education
Tutwiler was born in Tuscaloosa, AlabamaTuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
to parents of the planter class
Plantations in the American South
Plantations were an important aspect of the history of the American South, particularly the antebellum .-Planter :The owner of a plantation was called a planter...
. She was educated at Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
, New York, starting in 1861, the year that it opened. She furthered her education in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and at Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States.The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, about north of its present location. In 1776 it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of...
.
Career
Tutwiler served with her uncle as co-president of Livingston State Normal School. She was the first (and only) president of the college. After decades of expansion, it became the University of West Alabama. With her support, in 1892 ten Livingston-educated students became the first women admitted to the University of AlabamaUniversity of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
. She was called the "mother of co-education in Alabama".
She was a key figure in the creation of the Alabama Girls' Industrial School, in October 1896. This institution eventually evolved into the University of Montevallo
University of Montevallo
The University of Montevallo is a four-year public university located in Montevallo, Alabama, USA. Founded in 1896, it is Alabama's only public liberal arts college and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. Programs are offered through the Michael E...
.
Prison reform
Known as the "angel of the prisons," Tutwiler pushed for many reforms of the Alabama penal system. Most significantly, she fought to separate female prisoners from male ones and to separate juveniles from hardened adult criminals—resulting in the first Boys' Industrial School. In addition, she demanded better prison sanitation and helped institute educational and religious opportunities for prisoners. As a consequence of her advocacy, the Julia Tutwiler Prison for WomenJulia Tutwiler Prison for Women
The Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women is a prison for women of the Alabama Department of Corrections, located in Wetumpka, Alabama. All female inmates entering ADOC are sent to the receiving unit in Tutwiler. Tutwiler houses the state's female death row...
in Wetumpka, Alabama
Wetumpka, Alabama
Wetumpka is a city in Elmore County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 5,726.The city is the county seat of Elmore County, one of the fastest growing counties in the state....
was named in her honor. For a period the Wetumpka State Penitentiary
Wetumpka State Penitentiary
The Wetumpka State Penitentiary , originally known as the Alabama State Penitentiary, was the first state prison established in Alabama. Built on the east bank of the Coosa River in Wetumpka, Alabama, it was nicknamed the "Walls of Alabama" or "Walls." For much of its existence the prison housed...
had been renamed after Tutwiler, prior to the opening of the current Tutwiler prison.
Alabama state song
Tutwiler was known as a poet and wrote the lyrics for "Alabama", the state song, which was officially adopted in 1931. According to the Alabama Department of Archives and HistoryAlabama Department of Archives and History
The Alabama Department of Archives and History is the official repository of archival records for the U.S. state of Alabama. It was created by an act of the Alabama Legislature on February 27, 1901 with a primary mission of collecting and preserving artifacts relating to the history of the state...
, "The inspiration for writing the poem 'Alabama' came to Julia Tutwiler after she returned to her native state from Germany where she had been studying new educational methods for girls and women".
The song begins:
Alabama, Alabama,
We will aye be true to thee,
From thy Southern shore where groweth,
By the sea thine orange tree.
To thy Northern vale where floweth
Deep and blue thy Tennessee.
Alabama, Alabama
We will aye be true to thee!
Honors
The Julia Tutwiler Prison for WomenJulia Tutwiler Prison for Women
The Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women is a prison for women of the Alabama Department of Corrections, located in Wetumpka, Alabama. All female inmates entering ADOC are sent to the receiving unit in Tutwiler. Tutwiler houses the state's female death row...
in Wetumpka, Alabama
Wetumpka, Alabama
Wetumpka is a city in Elmore County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 5,726.The city is the county seat of Elmore County, one of the fastest growing counties in the state....
is named after her. In addition a large women's dormitory at the University of Alabama and a library at University of West Alabama
University of West Alabama
The University of West Alabama is a public university located in Livingston, Alabama, United States. It is currently on probation with its regional accrediting body....
bear her name.
When Judson College
Judson College (Alabama)
Judson College, originally named Judson Female Institute, was founded by members of the Siloam Baptist Church in 1838 in Marion, Alabama. It is the fifth oldest women's college in the United States. It was named after Ann Hasseltine Judson, the first female foreign missionary from the United States...
in Marion, Alabama
Marion, Alabama
Marion is the county seat of Perry County, Alabama. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 3,511. First called Muckle Ridge, the city was renamed after a hero of the American Revolution, Francis Marion.-Geography:...
, established the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1970, Tutwiler was among the first group of inductees.
Tutwiler Hall on the University of Alabama's
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
campus is named in Julia Tutwiler's honor. It is one of the most recognizable buildings on campus and was the first tower style dorm built on campus. It is an all-female dorm
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
and it is located at the corner of Paul W. Bryant Drive and 10th Ave., across from Bryant-Denny Stadium
Bryant-Denny Stadium
Bryant–Denny Stadium, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is the home stadium for the University of Alabama football team. The stadium opened in 1929, and was originally named Denny Stadium, in honor of former Alabama president George Hutchenson Denny...
External links
- Julia Strudwick Tutwiler (1841-1916) - Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.
- Julia Strudwick Tutwiler - Alabama Department of Archives and History.
- State Song: Alabama - Alabama Department of Archives and History
- , Julia Tutwiler article, Encyclopedia of Alabama