Julia_Tutwiler

Julia Tutwiler Kayla Tremble CJ 270 Extra Credit Paper Mr. Patrick Halliday 4/10/2011 Who would have ever guessed that a woman by the name of Julia Tutwiler would be responsible for one of the biggest prison reform movements in Alabama. Julia was an educator, prison reformer, writer, and an outspoken proponent of education for women. Ms. Julia found both the colleges that are now known today as the University of West Alabama and the University of Montevallo and they were heavily influenced with innovations in education for women and African Americans during segregation. The women’s prison in Wetumpka, Alabama and the (women’s only) dorm here on UA’s campus still bears the name of Julia Tutwiler. Julia wrote a poem named “Alabama” and up until this very day, this poem is recognized as our official state song. Until this very day, some people still refer to Julia Tutwiler as the “angel of the prisons” because of her great contributions and acts that changed the whole Alabama prison systems. Therefore, before we get into her biography, I just wanted to make sure that all that are reading understand her contributions and true dedications to what she loved to do. She did not just speak of a change, then left the subject alone, she spoke of a change, and saw to it that something was done. Julia Tutwiler was no ordinary woman, she was a believer, a woman with ambition, and true heart and now that I have learned so much about her, she is one of my very few, ‘idols’. Julia Strudwick Tutwiler was born on August 15, 1841 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She was the daughter of Henry and Julia Ashe Tutwiler of Greene Springs, (in what is now known as Hale County). She was the third of eleven children. Henry Tutwiler was chair of ancient languages at the University of Alabama. He later established the Greene Springs School for Boys in Hale County. Henry believed that women were intellectual equals of men and that we should be educated just as much, which is one reason why he sent Julia away to Philadelphia to a boarding school that was based on the French system of education that offered instruction in modern languages, culture, art, and music. Julia later took up a semester at Vassar College in New York State but sadly, she had to leave because she could not afford to go there. Julia Tutwiler did not stop just because she could not afford to go to that college. So continued along to Berlin and earned her teaching certificate from the Prussian board of education. For many years she was superintendent of prison and jail work for the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Her work here played a part in her securing the classification of prisoners and the separation of the sexes. She created the first juvenile reform school, and the first law for the inspection of jails and prisons. Julia worked to secure the establishment of night schools and vocational education in prisons and she fought the convict-leasing system. She never lived long enough to see her creations, but as of today “The Julia Tutwiler Women’s Prison” is named for her. It seemed to me as if Julia never gave up on anything and she was a fighter. Her influence on others was extended beyond education reform. Julia was the Martin Luther King during segregation. She was the Harriet Tubman in the Underground Railroad. I used these metaphors to show that Julia Tutwiler was an entrepreneur. She was the conductor behind the whole prison reform and if it was not for her ideas and actions, I believe that the women in prison would still be getting the shorter end of the stick. Just as I am grateful for her contributions, I am sure other female inmates in Alabama are as well. Synnott, Marcia. Encyclopedia of Alabama. Julia Tutwiler. 10 April. 2011. Web. 14 Mar. 2007. . Wikipedia. Julia Tutwiler. Web. 10 April. 2011. . Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame. Julia Tutwiler. Web. 10 April. 2011. . Alabama Department of Archives and History. State Song: Alabama. Web. 10 April. 2011. . Julia Strudwick Tutwiler. Web. 10 April. 2011. .