From A Newspaper Article Written By
Nerissa Young - Register-Herald
Reporter
In the past eight decades, thousands of
female federal convicts have passed through the stone
entrance to the Alderson women's prison. They are an
eclectic mix of street women, Vassar graduates, kidnappers,
traitors, terrorists, would-be assassins and protesters.
As the first and, for many years, the
only federal women's prison. Alderson was home to the
infamous female criminals of the 20th century. A handful
came through the stone gates under great notoriety to serve
their time in relative obscurity, unnoticed and unremarkable
among the 800 or 1,000 other women repaying a debt to
society under the shelter of the Allegheny Mountains. These
are their stories.
Kathryn Kelly
Kathryn Kelly was 30 ears old when she was sentenced in
1933 to life in prison under the new Lindbergh law
passed by Congress to deter a national rash of
kidnappings which included the son of famous aviator
Charles Lindbergh.
On July 23. 1933. Oklahoma oil tycoon
Charles F. Urschel was taken from the front porch of his
Oklahoma City home at gunpoint, after his bridge game
with friends was interupted by a strange man wielding a gun
and demanding to know which one was Urschel.
After nine days in captivity and
a nearly $200.000 ransom was paid. Urshcel was
dumped from a vehicle near Norman, Ok. where he
found his way home unharmed. Police traced the
gunman to notorious Minnesota bank robber and
gangster George "Machine Gun" Kelly, who was linked
to organized crime activity in Kansas, City and
Chicago.
While the gunman stood trial,
Kelly taunted police and the court with letters and
threats. The trial was front page news in The New
Your Times. On Sept 26. 1993, police arrested George
and Kathryn Kelly in Memphis Tenn., and indicted
them for masterminding the kidnapping plot.
In a three-day trial the
following month, the Kellys were convicted. Kathryn
Kelly's mother, Ora Shannon, also was convicted in
the plot. Urschel was held at her Paradise, Texas,
farm.
Kathryn was defiant at her
sentencing. She told reporters afterward, my
Pekinese dog would have got a life sentence in that
court: She vowed terrible things would happen if she
and her mother were sent to separate prisons.
Federal officials sent the pair to Alderson, where
they served their time side by side. (Former warden
Virginia McLaughlin said the two women were quiet
prisoners and hard workers.)
Billie Holiday
Holiday was at the peak of her popularity as a
jazz singer when she was convicted on a federal
drug charge in 1947 and sentenced at age 32 to
one year in prison.
Holiday grew up in a rough
neighborhood of Baltimore, Md. Her drug use
affected her career and, finally, her life. She
wrote her autobiography. "Lady Sings the Blues;
which became a popular book and film.
McLaughlin said Holiday
was a quiet prisoner. She went into the
woodwork and never came out, McLaughlin
said. During Holiday's time at Alderson, no
one recalled hearing the most famous jazz
singer of her time sing a note.
Axis Sally
Soldiers serving in the European and
Pacific theaters were riveted by the
voices of two women who joined up with
the Axis power.
Mildred E. Gillars
was an Ohioan who found herself in
Germany behind the microphone. There,
she became known to soldiers as Axis
Sally for her propaganda radio
broadcasts on behalf of the Nazis.
On March
10, 1949, Gillars was convicted of
treason when the United States began
prosecuting war criminals. She
received a sentence of 10 to 30
years in prison, was sent to
Alderson and served 12 years.
Tokyo Rose Iva Toguri d'Aquino was a
native Californian of Japanese
descent. Her propaganda
broadcasts came from Radio Tokyo
in Japan, where she was known as
Tokyo Rose. At at 33. she was
convicted of treason and on
Sept. 29, 1949, she was
sentenced to 10 years in prison.
She served six years. McLaughlin
said d'Aquino received a lot
more sympathy from Americans
than Gillars.
Many
western newspapers argued
for her freedom because she
was only one of many women
to play the role of Tokyo
Rose. Gillars and Aquino were
exemplary prisoners who kept
themselves and their rooms
neat and orderly. McLaughlin said, "(You name it and they
were it.")
Lolita Lebron On Nov. 1, 1950, two
male Puerto Rican
members of the
Nationalist Party
stormed Blair House,
where President Harry
Truman was staying while
the White House was
renovated. The men tried
to kill Truman. One died
in the gun-fight and a
Secret Ser-vice agent
was killed. Truman was
unscathed and kept every
appointment scheduled
for the day.
Less than four years
later, another group
of Puerto Rican
Nationalists would
show their
displeasure over
failed efforts to
gain independence
for their homeland.
Two men, led by
34-year-old Lolita
Lebron, opened fire
on the House of
Representatives
chamber from a
spectators' gallery
at 2:32 p.m. March
2, 1954. A New York
Times reporter said
House members were
in the midst of a
vote count on a bill
regulating the flow
of Mexican farm
labor into the
United States when
bullets began
flying.
Lebron and her
followers shouted
for freedom as they
emptied German Luger
pistols into the
House chamber
ceiling, furniture
and lawmakers. When
her gun was empty,
Lebron attempted to
unfurl a Puerto
Rican flag, shouting
"Viva Puerto Rico!"
Witnesses counted at
least two dozen
shots fired as five
wounded congressmen
fell to the floor.
Wounds ranged from
serious to
life threatening.
The injured included
Michigan Republican
Alvin Bentley, Iowa
Republican Ben
Jensen, Tennessee
Democrat Clifford
Davis, Maryland
Democrat George
Fallon and Alabama
Democrat Kenneth
Roberts.
Lebron told police
she didn't plan to
kill anyone, but
Secret Service
agents linked her to
the wife of one of
Truman's would be
assassins. Agents
also found evidence
to show Lebron was
part of a plot to
kill President
Dwight Eisenhower.
The three and a
fourth man, captured
at a bus station
were indicted on
five counts each of
assault with intent
to kill and assault
with a deadly
weapon. Lebron was
convicted and
sentenced to 50
years in prison.
McLaughlin remembers
Lebron as an unusual
prisoner who seemed
mentally disturbed.
She was a member of
her country's upper
crust and very
religious. "I never did see how
you could be a good
Catholic and a good
Marxist. Both of
them are absolutes."
Retired correctional
officer Mary K.
Wheeler remembers
Lebron as peculiar
and standoffish. She
did not mingle with
other prisoners,
preferring to be
alone.
Lynette
Squeaky Fromme
President Ford
had some unlucky
public falls
during his
presidency that
forever tagged
him as a klutz.
However, Ford
survived two
assassination
attempts
uninjured within
a month in 1975.
On Sept. 5, Ford
was walking
through a
Sacramento,
Calif., park
greeting
visitors.
Lynette Alice
"Squeaky" Fromme
was two feet
from Ford when
she fired a
.45-caliber
semiautomatic
pistol in his
direction.
The
26-year-old
member of
the
murderous
Charles
Manson
family was
convicted
and
sentenced to
life in
prison for
attempted
assassination.
Fromme was
the
unofficial
leader of
the family
after Manson
and some of
his followers
were
convicted of
the August
1969 grisly
Hollywood
murders of
seven people
and an
unborn
child,
including
pregnant
actress
Sharon Tate,
coffee
heiress
Abigail Folger and
business
owners Leno
and Rosemary
LaBianca.
She was
never
charged in
the murders.
The
diminutive
woman
sign
her
best
wishes
in
Wheeler's
retirement
book.
She
wrote,
"Wheeling
away-take
good
care
of
the
wild
frogs-size
5
Lynette".
Wheeler
said
she
collected
frog
figurines
and
Fromme
knew
her
hobby.
The
"size
5"
denotes
Fromme's
underwear
size.
Wheeler
said
Fromme
was
always
asking
for
clean
underwear.
Sara Jane
Moore
On Sept. 22,
Ford was
leaving San
Francisco's
St. Francis
Hotel when
Sara Jane
Moore fired
a .38
caliber
bullet at
the
president.
The 45 year
old former
FBI informant and
social
activist,
pleaded
guilty to
trying to
assassinate
the
president
and was
sentence to
life in
prison.
Wheeler said
anyone who
saw the two
women
walking the
prison
grounds
would
have never
guessed
their
violent
crimes.
Fromme
worked with
her in the
clothing
department.
"To me, and
to work with
me, she was
a model
prisoner",
Wheeler
said.
Sandra Good
Another of the Manson family joined Fromme at Alderson. Sandra Good was convicted of writing threatening letters. She was sentenced to 10 years. On Dec. 23, 1987, Fromme walked away (escaped) from Alderson, allegedly attempting to meet with the ill Manson, who was imprisoned in California. She was missing for two days in the mountains until authorities recaptured the hungry and cold escapee. She was transferred to a higher security prison.
Mary Trotochaud One of Alderson's recent residents is a government protester. Mary Trotochaud, 47, was convicted in a Georgia federal court last year for trespassing and defacing the entrance sign at Fort Benning in 1997. The Atlanta, Ga., woman is one of several church officials and private citizens protesting the School of the Americas, headquartered at Fort Benning, which trains Latin American soldiers.
The protesters claim the U.S. government is responsible for human rights crimes committed in Central America by American trained soldiers. Rapes, murders and massacres of church officials and citizens in El Salvador and Mexico have been attributed to SOA graduates. Trotochaud was sentenced to six months in prison.
Irene Smith
The sister of country music legend Hank Williams Sr. spent time in Alderson on a drug conviction. Irene Smith served her sentence making jewelry that was sold in the prison commissary. Wheeler said, "We had them from all walks and phases of life." McLaughlin said despite the women's sins outside the prison grounds, they were treated with the same respect inside the fence. "They had been judged and sentenced and that was not up to us to do."
"Where is Martha Stewart?", you
might be asking. Martha's time in
Alderson was in 2004, a few years
after this article was written. It's
no doubt she would have been listed
here, which I just did.
My mother loved to save
newspaper clippings, and she put
them in a scrapbook (I have it
now). This is from the Beckley
paper, around the 1990s. I
thought this was relevant and
interesting._Barry
