Alabama State Training School for Girls
| Alabama State Training School for Girls | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Opened | 1909/1937 |
| Closed | 2012 |
| Current Status | Closed |
| Building Style | Cottage Plan |
| Location | Chalkville, AL |
| Alternate Names |
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History
The school, the result of a program initially developed by the Protestant Women of Birmingham in 1909, was designed to help troubled girls learn anger management and develop life skills in a family atmosphere. Only two years after founding the school, the Protestant Women of Birmingham turned it over to the state in 1911. After moving to several locations in Birmingham, the Alabama Training School for Girls found a home in Chalkville in 1937, where it would remain for seven decades and undergo another name change, this time to Department of Youth Services, Chalkville Campus.
The State Training School for Girls was expanded in 1938 which included the addition of new cottages, a swimming pool, a church, and an administration building that contained a hospital and clinic. The work was undertaken by the Works Progress Administration with the stone used being cut from a nearby quarry and supplied by the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1949, the Birmingham Federation of Labor investigated allegations that the conditions at the school were deplorable. The inmates received very little training, awful food, and recreational facilities were poor.
The reform school program was undergoing its own reform in Alabama, and the girls were being moved to a new facility built by the Department of Youth Services, when the sprawling Chalkville campus was struck by an EF3 tornado in January 2012, leveling all but four of its 15 buildings. The dorm housing the remaining 18 girls sustained little damage and no one was injured. A new facility opened in 2015 to meet court mandates.
