by Julie Anne Phillipps
A visit to Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park rarely conjures images of the elegance of a Victorian Parlor. Yet, as the golden age of Victoria spun out the doctrines of womanly virtue and value, reform prisons like Yuma rose up in the American West.
In an age of lies, one the lesser lies about a proper young woman’s education was the absolute need for instruction in fancy needlework. Crewelwork bed hangings, stitched chair seats, and appliquéd quilts continue to exhibit both the skill and gentility of the artist. Such work requires significant time, which only the wives of prosperous men of business had the leisure for engaging.
Contemporary writer Elizabeth Stuart Phelps presented a more realistic, if unpalatable, truth about women’s lives, still we tend to cherish those enduring tales of women’s mastery over domestic arts no matter how false. We can still believe that a woman’s proficiency in needlework shows not just her mastery of a necessary skill in household management and other wifery skills, but hints at the eloquence of her mind, in a thoroughly feminine way, of course. However, sewing was not entirely in the domain of women as some very unusual men also mastered the skills of darning and yarning.
The only other people with that kind of idle time were, well, prisoners. Then as today, we tend to think of prisons as merely holding cells where civil and uncivil evildoers bide their time before being whipped into submission or executed. Fortunately, society in the 1860s demanded change. While the abolitionists called for the end of slavery, and suffragettes demanded equal rights, and a unique group of reformers pushed for reform in our new country’s prisons.
Some prisons experimented with solitary confinement and group living, during the golden age all prisons required that a prisoner serve his or her entire sentence, and no prisoner received time off for good behavior, which needless to say made it somewhat difficult to entice the prisoners to reform. During this time, a notable prison reform allowed prisoners to shorten their sentences by exhibiting good behavior. This experiment, like all things American headed West.
After a few ingenious shenanigans by Yuma representatives, Yuma Territorial Prison was built. Yuma locals quickly dubbed the prison, "The Country Club of the Colorado," which was considered a model of enlightenment by turn-of-the-century standards. In an era when beatings were common, the only punishment meted out at Yuma was solitary confinement. The prison complex housed a hospital as well as Yuma's only public library. Visitors could tour the prison for a mere 25 cents, which official put towards purchasing new books. As happens, Yuma Territorial Prison remained opened only until September 15, 1909 when the prisoners move to roomier digs at Florence.
The prison's diverse inmates ranged in age from 14 to 88 years old, of both sexes, from 21 different foreign countries, and covered every race. The prisoners arrived with skills from prostitution, carpentry, cuisine, agriculture, wheelwrights, tailors and seamstresses, to uhm, card speculation. Although a few came in with sewing skills, the prisoners all soon learned this trade was a profitable one.
Prison rules required the detainees to labor six days a week for eight hours a day in the kitchen, laundry, sewing shop, or the rock quarry. The rest of the day fell to leisure activities, and although the Prison still displays evidence of opium-based elixirs to while-away the time, several male prisoners and at least one of the 29 female prisoners began to sew ‘fancy work.’
Visitors gazing today at the tiny cells that held six inmates each, in 115-degree heat and frosty winter conditions, the idea of living, working and engaging in leisure activities in such conditions seems a little hard to appreciate. It's not entirely surprising the prisoners took to working on handcrafted items, especially when the prison officials allowed them to sell their wares at bazaars, the same officials held.
"Fancy" needlework, such as crocheting and lace making, remain prized for its beauty and occupies a prominent place in the household. Fortunately, Yuma Territorial Prison museum houses a small collection of prisoner C.E. Hobert fancy works including a tablecloth, two collars, a child’s chemise and a piano scarf. No doubt, C. E.’s ability to sew ‘fancy work’ allowed him to leave prison with a nice little bankroll to take with his new good character and admirable domesticity.