Wisconsin Industrial School for Boys
| Wisconsin Industrial School for Boys | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Established | 1857 |
| Opened | 1860 |
| Closed | 1962 |
| Current Status | Demolished |
| Building Style | Cottage Plan |
| Location | Waukesha, WI |
| Alternate Names |
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History
The state authorized a House of Refuge for Juvenile Delinquents in 1857 at Waukesha; its name was changed in 1859 to the State Reform School. The school opened its doors in 1860 to boys under 18 and girls under 17 who had been convicted of criminal offenses and vagrancy. After 1870, the school accepted only boys and accordingly changed its name to the Industrial School for Boys in 1871. The boys learned to make shoes and boots of such superior quality that demand for them exceeded the supply. The girls produced all the wearing apparel required by the inmates, including coats and hand-knitted socks and mittens. Later, broom-making and chair-making were also taught, but with the advent of child labor laws the manufacture of items for sale had to be abandoned. Articles still were made for use at the institution, however.
Overcrowding had begun to be a problem by the turn of the century, despite the fact that there were ten cottages, each of which could accommodate 35 or more boys. In addition, there was concern that the younger boys were unfavorably influenced by association with the older, more experienced inmates.
In the 1930s disciplinary problems began to surface. By the mid-1940s complaints about conditions at the school were being received by members of the state legislature, and an investigation of the school was ordered. A second investigation was initiated by the state attorney general's office in 1948. That investigation found employee morale extremely low, and declared that the superintendent was not only incompetent, but had little interest in the care and rehabilitation of boys. After studying the report, the Welfare Board recommended that the Waukesha facility be phased out and the former state tuberculosis sanitorium at Wales be used as a temporary site for the school until a new facility could be built—the Kettle Moraine School for Boys near Plymouth. The Wales facility was ready for its new function in 1959, but by 1962, when the Waukesha school finally closed, both the Wales and Kettle Morraine schools were needed. All of the buildings on the Waukesha site were razed, except for 1 cottage, and the land was sold for use as an industrial park.
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