The Story of Maud Booth
Maud Booth spent most of her life as an advocate for the sick, the poor and the hungry. However, her most lasting legacy is the ongoing work of Volunteers of America in the rehabilitation of ex-offenders. Maud and her husband, Ballington, spent several years in the Salvation Army fighting to bring comfort and dignity to those in need. However, it was not until the founding of Volunteers of America in 1896 that Maud Booth came to know her true mission: reform of the nation's prisons and a lifelong ministry to the men inside their walls.
Gloom and Contagion
In the 1923 book, "Punishment and Reformation," Frederick Wines described the prevailing attitude of the previous century: "To make any impression on convicts, there must be suffering; and to make any adequate impression, such suffering must excite feelings of terror."
Most 19th century American prisons were built and operated strictly as places of punishment. Prisons were realms of unrelieved gloom and contagion. Most had no plumbing and were poorly ventilated. Tuberculosis was so common that most inmates soon developed a telltale "jailhouse cough," which often progressed untreated toward complete disability and death.
Brutality against individual prisoners was also common. Although most prisons had officially prohibited physical abuse, the psychological punishments could be just as severe. Prisoners faced long periods of solitary confinement or straight jacketing for minor infractions and many institutions enforced the so-called "silent treatment" in which all conversation among inmates was forbidden.
The Little Mother of the Prisons
Maud Booth had visited jails and prisons as early as 1889, but her 52-year prison ministry and reform crusade may be said to have begun at Sing Sing prison on Sunday, May 24, 1896. Although her exact message that day is unknown, it had an electrifying effect. Fifty convicts stood up, prayed together and pledged to remake their lives. Maud soon became known as "The Little Mother of the Prisons." Throughout her life, she offered the prisoners a contract based on personal responsibility. An unknown prisoner left this summary of her promise: "I don't come here to prevent you from paying the just penalty of your crimes; take your medicine like men. When you have paid the penalty, I will help you. I will nurse you back to health. I will get you work. Above all, I will trust you. It depends on you whether I keep on doing so or not. Mind, I will help you over the rough places, but I will not carry you."
The First Halfway House
In September 1896, Maud opened what is believed to be the nation's first halfway house for released prisoners — Hope Hall No. 1, located at 189th Street in the Bronx, New York. Before the end of the year, Hope Halls had been established in Chicago and San Francisco. Others soon followed in Columbus, Ohio; New Orleans; Waco, Texas; Walla Walla, Washington, and Hampton, Florida.
In effect, Maud Booth and a few Volunteer officers had set up a nationwide parole system. By 1902, more than 3,000 ex-prisoners had passed through the New York and Chicago Hope Halls. The system was supported by lecture fees from Mrs. Booth's national speaking tours and by the prisoners themselves.
National Commander of Volunteers of America
While not an innovator in penology, Maud Booth was a tireless champion for reform, as well as an advocate for safe and healthy communities. In 1896, she formed the Volunteer Prison League, a membership organization of prisoners determined to make good. She also became national commander of the Volunteers of America in 1940 after her husband's death. She led the organization in its wartime service efforts and in every way she could — by writing, speaking and personal appeals to authorities — advocated greater use of prison industries for the war effort with fewer restrictions on ex-offenders who wanted to enlist in the armed forces. In 1943, the American Prison Association elected her Honorary National Vice President for life. This recognition by a group of corrections professionals for an "amateur" was perhaps the most appreciated of all the honors she had received.