Hannah B. Chickering (July 29, 1817 – July 3, 1879) was a prison reformer in the late 1800s, who worked to establish separate prisons for female inmates in Massachusetts and founded the Temporary Asylum for discharged female prisoners which later became known as the Dedham Temporary Home for Women and Children, which operated between 1864 and 1969 in Dedham, MA.
Early life
Born on July 29, 1817, in Dedham, Massachusetts, Chickering was the youngest of seven children and the fourth daughter in her family. Although, she was raised in the Unitarian faith, she ultimately decided to become an Episcopalian. She was a devoted member of her church, participated in parish work, and taught the local children during Sunday School. Chickering's faith and unyielding belief in God would provide strength throughout her life and guidance in her work. In 1846, around the age of 29, Chickering moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she continued her role in the church teaching Sunday School to young girls. One of her students, wrote this of a young Chickering, "Before knowing Miss Chickering I rather feared her. She seemed to me and others of our set of girls rather stern and strict. And I must confess it was with feelings of dread that we accepted her as our Sunday-school teacher. Very soon, however, this all changed, and as we knew her so we loved and respected her. If one was candid and honest with her there was nothing to fear." Sometime around 1854, Chickering moved back to Dedham, Massachusetts where she spent her days caring for the ill, it was during this time when she decided that her life's work should be toward promoting the good in other people. In "Recollections of Hannah B. Chickering," Sarah E. Dexter described Chickering as a woman with "...a strong element of self-sacrifice united to the utmost fidelity to duty. Her question was always, What ought I to do?" Chickering would discover the answer a few years later while on a return visit to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to see a close friend.
Dedham temporary home for women and children
In the early 1860s, Chickering visited a friend in Philadelphia, who once a week spent an afternoon with the female prisoners of the Pennsylvania State Penitentiary. Chickering requested to join her friend on her visit to the Penitentiary one Tuesday afternoon, to help uplift the spirits of the women through prayer and religious teachings. In a letter written by the friend about the visit she remarked how Chickering, "...at once became warmly interested in the work and never afterwards during her whole visit failed to devote the Tuesday afternoons to it with an enthusiasm and hopefulness...". Once Chickering returned to her home in Dedham, Massachusetts, she sought to continue the work she had begun in Philadelphia with the women prisoners of the Dedham Jail. Initially, Chickering had fears the female prisoners in the Dedham Jail would not take warmly to her company or teachings, but these fears dissipated after her first few visits. Soon Chickering became a regular at the Dedham Jail, when she arrived each Sunday the women awaited eagerly for their weekly religious lesson. Overtime Chickering established herself in the Jail's community, setting up a library and appointed herself as the prison's chaplain.
During these visits in the Dedham Jail, Chickering begun to realize that the female prisoners were not receiving any rehabilitation efforts afforded to the male prisoners. There were no programs that prepared the women for their release back into society, which resulted in the women resorting to their old methods of survival, crime, resulting in their re-arrest and imprisonment. Chickering observed the cycle repeat its self and its effect on the women, "...and this mournful round is trodden again and again, till a wretched death closes the scene for these victims of misfortune, neglect, and sin." From what she had seen first hand in the Dedham Jail, Chickering realized there was desperate need to reform these women so they could lead productive lives once they were released from prison. What transpired was the "Temporary Asylum for Discharged Female Prisoners," founded 1864, referred today as the "Dedham Temporary Home for Women and Children."