Women | Page 17 | MNopedia

Incarcerated women cultivating a field

Women incarcerated at the Minnesota Reformatory for Women, Shakopee, cultivate a field ca. 1920.

Incarcerated women posing by a cornfield

Women incarcerated at the Minnesota Reformatory for Women, Shakopee, pose by a cornfield, ca. 1920.

Minnesota State Reformatory for Women, Shakopee

Minnesota Correctional Facility-Shakopee (MCF-Shakopee) is Minnesota’s only state women’s prison. Women reformers pushed for its existence in the 1910s, arguing that women needed a place away from men where they could receive training instead of punishment. It opened in 1920 as the State Reformatory for Women. Over the next hundred years, it became increasingly crowded, and its focus shifted from “retraining” its prisoners to confining them.

Mi Perú-Minnesota banner

Mi Perú-Minnesota members model a diverse range of traditional Peruvian dance attires while holding a banner with the group's logo. The banner was made in Huancayo, Peru, and intended to be used for the Modern Huaylarsh group dance. Photo by Sarah Leon Waddell, 2022. Used with the permission of Sarah Leon Waddell Photography.

Marvel Cooke

Marvel Cooke, ca. 1950s.

Dakota cradleboard ornament with quillwork

A cradleboard ornament made of hide decorated with dyed porcupine quills, created by a Dakota woman between 1775 and 1850. Pelagie Faribault would have made quillwork ornaments in a similar style.

Faribault, Pelagie (1783–1847)

Pelagie Faribault was a métis (Native and European) woman who received Wita Tanka (Big Island, also called Pike Island) from her Dakota kin as part of an 1820 treaty with the United States. The Faribault family had influence among their Dakota relatives, and Pelagie in particular was known for her acts of generosity.