In 1825, the first house of refuge was opened in New York City; the cities of Boston and Philadelphia soon followed and …show more content…
Massachusetts opened its first reform school for boys in 1847 and for girls in 1856. The reformatories and the houses of refuge differed in many ways. Firstly, the smaller buildings that were maintained were utilized and secondly, there was a better level of education being given to the delinquents. Most states outside of the South had reform schools for boys and girls by 1890. Just like the houses of refuge operated, reformatories did the same by excluding Blacks and just sending them to adult jails and prisons. Black youth outnumbered any other delinquents in these facilities and were always subjected to the most brutal form of punishment. It was then in 1873 the first separate reformatory for colored boys opened in Baltimore. The state of Virginia opened its first industrial home for “wayward colored girls” in 1915 and a facility for “wayward boys” in 1920. All of these reformatories were due in efforts of the child