From 1929: Call Wedlock poor cure for erring girls

This article is from exactly 80 years ago today, appearing in the Hartford Courant on December 13, 1929.

The photo at right shows Long Lane in 1911.

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Probation Officers Attack Practice of Marrying Delinquents Under 16 to Offending Men

Declare Matches End in Disaster

Actions of Long Lane Farm Heads in Closing Doors on Defectives Approved at Meeting

The practice of officials in many Connecticut communities of attempting a solution of the troubles of girls under 16 by persuading them to marry the man who got them into difficulty was criticized today at a meeting of probation officers from all over the state, held at Long Lane Farm, state institution for delinquent girls.

That such matches, nearly always end unhappily and often with disastrous results, was the concensus [sic] of the probation officers. In many cases there is a wide variance in the ages of the principals and in such circumstances it was declared the man should be prosecuted and not allowed to escape by marriage.

Thirty probation officers from the principal cities of the state met at Long Lane. Their discussion of the problems of delinquent girls was made from several angles.

Defective Rate High.

Thiry-eight per cent of the delinquent girls are defective mentally, and the percentage has slowly been on the increase during the past five to seven years, Miss Caroline DeF. Penniman, superintendent of Long Lane Farm, stated in her address before the assembly of probation officers.

The matter of handling these defectives at the girl's school here has become a much discussed question among the board of directors, Miss Penniman said, and they have found it necessary to refuse acceptance of any more of these defective girls at the local institution.

The delinquent girl may be paroled. The defective cannot. She remains at Long Lane Farm until she is 21, then going out into the world almost always immediately gets her into trouble of a nature which once again brings her before the probation officer, Miss Penniman said in her address.

Danger of Crowding.

Inasmuch as Long Lane Farm is for delinquent girls, the directors, seeing the institution being filled with defectives, were forced to make their decision, the officers were told. The whole matter of making provision for these defective and delinquent girls rests with the state, and needed provision should be made for them, Miss Penniman said.

It was the opinion of the probation officers present that the action of the board of directors of the local farm for girls was the correct procedure, even though such action put another question, for which the answer has not been found, directly up to each city and town.

Miss Penniman's address was given at the new Browning home following dinner. The meeting was called to order at 11:30 a.m. and a general discussion on legal points having to do with commitment to Long Lane Farm of delinquent girls followed.

Following Miss Penniman's address, the visiting officers met all the girls at the school at the chapel. The school Glee Club sang a special number, and the assembly sang several Christmas carols.

Later girls who came from cities or towns represented by probation officers at the meeting, stayed behind at the chapel and talked with them.

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Caroline deFord Penniman was Commissioner from 1917 to 1946, a period of great change at the facility for juvenile delinquents on Long Lane. "Long Lane" opened as a private charity in 1870, known as the "Industrial School for Girls". In 1921, it became a state facility managed by the Juvenile Court System; its name was changed to "Long Lane Farm." In 1943 its name changed again, to "Long Lane School".

In the early 1970s, it came under the administration of the Department of Children and Youth Services, and merged with the School for Boys, which had been in Meriden. The Long Lane facility was closed in 2003, with the girls being dispersed to multiple facilities in the state, and the boys sent to the new Connecticut Juvenile Training School in Maromas. The land and buildings were sold to Wesleyan for $15M.