MANSFIELD — Main Street Books will have a book talk program about the history of The Ohio State Reformatory on Friday, Oct. 21.
Author Nancy K. Darbey, a former Madison teacher and author of the Arcadia Publishing book on The Ohio State Reformatory, will be available at Main Street Books at 6 p.m.
About the book
In the state of Ohio, before 1884, most firsttime offenders between the ages of 16 and 30 were housed in the Ohio Penitentiary, where they were likely to be influenced by hardened criminals. That changed when the Ohio Legislature approved the building of a reformatory, a new type of institution that would educate and train young, firsttime offenders.
Construction was halted three times due to lack of funding, but on Sept. 17, 1896, the first 150 inmates were transferred to the new facility. Over the years, the reformatory expanded its training programs and became a selfsustaining institution–the largest of its kind in the United States.
By 1970, the reformatory had become a maximum security prison with a death row but no death chamber. It closed on Dec. 31, 1990, but preservation and restoration efforts are ongoing.
The reformatory has appeared in numerous television shows and feature films, including The Shawshank Redemption.
About the author
Nancy K. Darbey is a retired English teacher. During her career, she also served as adjunct professor in the Department of Psychology at North Central State College. She has volunteered with the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society since 1995 and is a former president of the board of trustees. As a volunteer, she is deeply interested in the history of the building, its administrators, and its inmates.
