From Sodomists to Citizens: Same-Sex Sexuality and the Progressive-era Washington State Reformatory
Abstract
During the early years of the twentieth century, Washington State authorities actively worked to criminalize same-sex sex in the state through the enforcement of the state sodomy law. As part of the enforcement of this law, authorities sentenced almost two dozen young men to the state reformatory for rehabilitation, and not to the penitentiary for punishment. This article details how authorities at the Washington State Reformatory between 1908 and 1920 attempted to reform same-sex sexual desire out of the young men sent to the institution. In doing so, it connects the impulses guiding the creation of a reformatory aimed at setting young people on the path to "good" citizenship, the activities of state authorities and reformers who feared the sexual corruption of Washington State youths, and the ideas about sexuality and criminality that guided the activites of reformatory and parole officials. It shows how, in the absence of the modern sexual binary, state officials contributed to the creation of a "straight state," the modern homosexual-heterosexual sexual binary, and rendered those who engaged in same-sex sex as unfit for citizenship.
References
Primary Sources
Corrections Department, Reformatory—Inmate Records, Washington State Archives, Olympia.
Corrections Department, Reformatory—Minutes of the Parole Board, Washington State Archives, Olympia.
Corrections Department, Penitentiary—Inmate Records, Washington State Archives, Olympia.
Goldsmith, May B., Anna Y. Reed, and J.A. Reed. _Report of Conditions at the State Training School and the State Reformatory Together With Recommendations for Needed Changes in Administration and Legislation_. Olympia: E.L. Boardman, 1911.
Nalder, Frank F. “The American State Reformatory with Special Reference to its Educational Aspects.” _University of California Publications in Education_ 5, no. 3 (1920): 289-467.
Washington State Board of Managers. _Seventh Biennial Report_. Monroe: Washington, 1920.
Washington State. _Session Laws, 1909_. Olympia: E.L. Boardmen, 1909.
Newspapers
_The Evening Statesman_.
_Monroe Monitor_.
_Civic Progress of the Northwest_. Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections. Washington State University Library, Pullman, WA.
Secondary Sources
“About Work Release.” _Department of Corrections_. http://doc.wa.gov/corrections/incarceration/work-release/default.htm. Accessed April 11, 2018.
Ahlfs, Nicholas Jacob. “Albert E. Mead: Reform Governor of Washington, 1905-1909,” (master’s thesis, University of Washington, 1969).
Bederman, Gail. _Manliness and Civilization: A Cultural History of Gender and Race in the United States, 1880-1917_. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.
Boag, Peter. _Redressing America’s Frontier Past_. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011.
Boag, Peter. _Same-Sex Affairs: Constructing and Controlling Homosexuality in the Pacific Northwest_. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
Brockway, Zebulon. “The American Reformatory Prison System.” _American Journal of Sociology_ 15 no. 4 (Jan., 1910): 467-477.
Canaday, Margot. _The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth Century America_. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009.
Capó Jr., Julio. _Welcome to Fairyland: Queer Miami Before 1940_ .Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2017.
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Clapp, Elizabeth J. _Mothers of All Children: Women Reformers and the Rise of Juvenile Courts in Progressive Era America_. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998.
Clark, Norman. _The Dry Years: Prohibition and Social Change in Washington, Revised Edition_. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1988.
Duggan, Lisa. _Sapphic Slashers: Sex, Violence and American Modernity_. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2001.
Eskridge Jr., William N. _Dishonorable Passions: Sodomy Laws in America 1863-2003_. New York: Viking, 2008.
Foster, Thomas A. ed. _Documenting Intimate Matters: Primary Sources for a History of Sexuality in America,_.Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2013.
Hicks, Cheyl D. “Bright and Good Looking Colored Girl’: Black Women’s Sexuality and ‘Harmful Intimacy’ in Early-Twentieth-Century New York.” _Journal of the History of Sexuality_ 18, no. 3 (Spring, 2009): 418-456.
Johnson, Colin R. _Just Queer Folks: Gender and Sexuality in Rural America_. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2013.
Katz, Jonathan Ned. _The Invention of Heterosexuality_. New York: Penguin, 1995.
Kunzel, Regina. _Criminal Intimacy: Prison and the Uneven History of Modern Sexuality_. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.
Meany, Edmond S. _Governors of Washington: Territorial and State_ .Seattle, Department of Printing, University of Washington, 1915.
Morgan, Murray. _Skid Road: An Informal Portrait of Seattle_. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1982.
Murphy, Kevin P. _Political Manhood: Red Bloods, Mollycoddles & the Politics of Progressive Era Reform_. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008.
Nalder, Frank F. _The History of the Washington State Reformatory, 1896-1908¬_ .Washington State Reformatory, 1913.
Pisciotta, Alexander. _Benevolent Repression: Social Control and the American Reformatory-Prison Movement_. New York: New York University Press, 1996.
Porter, Essex. “Gov. Inslee Signs Bill Banning Therapists from Paracticing Gay Covnersion Therapy.” KRIO 7. https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/gov-inslee-to-sign-bill-banning-therapists-from-practicing-gay-conversion-therapy/723161831, Accessed March 30, 2018.
Republican Party of Texas. “Report of the Permanent Committee on Platform and Resolutions as Amended and Adopted by the 2016 State Convention of the Republican Party of Texas.” https://www.texasgop.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/PERM-PLATFORM.pdf. Accessed March 20, 2018.
Shah, Nayan. _Stranger Intimacy: Contesting Race, Sexuality, and the Law in the North American West_. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011.
Spillane, Joseph P. _Coxsackie: The Life and Death of Prison Reform_. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2014.
Corrections Department, Reformatory—Inmate Records, Washington State Archives, Olympia.
Corrections Department, Reformatory—Minutes of the Parole Board, Washington State Archives, Olympia.
Corrections Department, Penitentiary—Inmate Records, Washington State Archives, Olympia.
Goldsmith, May B., Anna Y. Reed, and J.A. Reed. _Report of Conditions at the State Training School and the State Reformatory Together With Recommendations for Needed Changes in Administration and Legislation_. Olympia: E.L. Boardman, 1911.
Nalder, Frank F. “The American State Reformatory with Special Reference to its Educational Aspects.” _University of California Publications in Education_ 5, no. 3 (1920): 289-467.
Washington State Board of Managers. _Seventh Biennial Report_. Monroe: Washington, 1920.
Washington State. _Session Laws, 1909_. Olympia: E.L. Boardmen, 1909.
Newspapers
_The Evening Statesman_.
_Monroe Monitor_.
_Civic Progress of the Northwest_. Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections. Washington State University Library, Pullman, WA.
Secondary Sources
“About Work Release.” _Department of Corrections_. http://doc.wa.gov/corrections/incarceration/work-release/default.htm. Accessed April 11, 2018.
Ahlfs, Nicholas Jacob. “Albert E. Mead: Reform Governor of Washington, 1905-1909,” (master’s thesis, University of Washington, 1969).
Bederman, Gail. _Manliness and Civilization: A Cultural History of Gender and Race in the United States, 1880-1917_. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.
Boag, Peter. _Redressing America’s Frontier Past_. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011.
Boag, Peter. _Same-Sex Affairs: Constructing and Controlling Homosexuality in the Pacific Northwest_. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
Brockway, Zebulon. “The American Reformatory Prison System.” _American Journal of Sociology_ 15 no. 4 (Jan., 1910): 467-477.
Canaday, Margot. _The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth Century America_. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009.
Capó Jr., Julio. _Welcome to Fairyland: Queer Miami Before 1940_ .Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2017.
Chauncey, George. _Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940_. New York: BasicBooks, 1994.
Clapp, Elizabeth J. _Mothers of All Children: Women Reformers and the Rise of Juvenile Courts in Progressive Era America_. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998.
Clark, Norman. _The Dry Years: Prohibition and Social Change in Washington, Revised Edition_. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1988.
Duggan, Lisa. _Sapphic Slashers: Sex, Violence and American Modernity_. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2001.
Eskridge Jr., William N. _Dishonorable Passions: Sodomy Laws in America 1863-2003_. New York: Viking, 2008.
Foster, Thomas A. ed. _Documenting Intimate Matters: Primary Sources for a History of Sexuality in America,_.Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2013.
Hicks, Cheyl D. “Bright and Good Looking Colored Girl’: Black Women’s Sexuality and ‘Harmful Intimacy’ in Early-Twentieth-Century New York.” _Journal of the History of Sexuality_ 18, no. 3 (Spring, 2009): 418-456.
Johnson, Colin R. _Just Queer Folks: Gender and Sexuality in Rural America_. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2013.
Katz, Jonathan Ned. _The Invention of Heterosexuality_. New York: Penguin, 1995.
Kunzel, Regina. _Criminal Intimacy: Prison and the Uneven History of Modern Sexuality_. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.
Meany, Edmond S. _Governors of Washington: Territorial and State_ .Seattle, Department of Printing, University of Washington, 1915.
Morgan, Murray. _Skid Road: An Informal Portrait of Seattle_. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1982.
Murphy, Kevin P. _Political Manhood: Red Bloods, Mollycoddles & the Politics of Progressive Era Reform_. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008.
Nalder, Frank F. _The History of the Washington State Reformatory, 1896-1908¬_ .Washington State Reformatory, 1913.
Pisciotta, Alexander. _Benevolent Repression: Social Control and the American Reformatory-Prison Movement_. New York: New York University Press, 1996.
Porter, Essex. “Gov. Inslee Signs Bill Banning Therapists from Paracticing Gay Covnersion Therapy.” KRIO 7. https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/gov-inslee-to-sign-bill-banning-therapists-from-practicing-gay-conversion-therapy/723161831, Accessed March 30, 2018.
Republican Party of Texas. “Report of the Permanent Committee on Platform and Resolutions as Amended and Adopted by the 2016 State Convention of the Republican Party of Texas.” https://www.texasgop.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/PERM-PLATFORM.pdf. Accessed March 20, 2018.
Shah, Nayan. _Stranger Intimacy: Contesting Race, Sexuality, and the Law in the North American West_. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011.
Spillane, Joseph P. _Coxsackie: The Life and Death of Prison Reform_. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2014.
