Abigail Hopper Gibbons
Abigail taught school for several years in Philadelphia and New York. In 1833, she married fellow Quaker, James Sloan Gibbons, who was also an ardent abolitionist. Due to a political shift in the Quaker organization, Abigail's father, as well as her new husband, were disowned by the Society of Friends for their anti-slavery activities. Abigail also left the organization and never returned.
In 1836, Abigail and James moved to New York City, where they had six children. Two of their sons died in infancy, and a third died suddenly after an accident in which he was involved while attending Harvard University.
"Abby" and her father founded the Women's Prison Association of New York City in 1845. She lobbied for improvements in the city's prisons, advocated the hiring of police matrons, and urged the establishment of separate prisons for women. She frequently visited the various prisons in and about New York. For twelve years, she was also president of a German industrial school for street children.
In 1853, the Women's Prison Association separated from its parent, the Prison Association, and Abby obtained a New York State charter for her group. Under her leadership, the WPA undertook an aggressive program of legislative lobbying. She protested jail overcrowding and demanded that women prisoners be searched only by female matrons.
At that time, most of the WPA’s clients were Irish immigrants struggling with alcohol dependency, made worse by the extreme poverty in which they lived. Abby and her staff worked tirelessly to provide these women with a place to stay, a supportive community, and practical skills training. They created programs for these women, who had previously only known poverty and trouble in their lives.
With the coming of the war, Abby knew that nurses would be needed to care for the wounded. She was immediately ready to give her all for the Union. The United States Sanitary Commission was established in 1861, shortly after the Civil War began. The purpose of the commission was to recruit nurses and to provide adequate medical care to the Union wounded. When the Commission set up a training base at David’s Island Hospital in New York, Abby was among the trainees.
She traveled to Washington D.C., to help at the Washington Office Hospital, helping the wounded and distributing supplies. She also helped to establish two field hospitals in Virginia.
At Point Lookout, Maryland, the government took over a hotel and 100 guest cottages and converted them into a hospital complex with accommodations for 1500 soldiers. It was named Hammond General Hospital. Abigail vied with Dorothea Dix, the Union Superintendent of Nurses, for control of the hospital, and Abby was finally appointed its head matron. She left the hospital in 1863, when it was converted into Point Lookout Confederate Prison.
Following the war, Abby was involved in several New York charities, including the "Labor and Aid Society," which helped returning veterans find work. She aided in founding the Isaac Hopper Home, named for her father, which helped former women prisoners to return to society.
Today, the Women's Prison Association still provides programs through which women can acquire the life skills necessary to lead a productive life and to make good choices for themselves and their families. It is the nation’s oldest advocacy organization working exclusively with women prisoners. Over the past 160 years, the WPA has adapted to the changing needs of its clients and offered them alternatives to their previous lives of crime.
And they have Abigail Hopper Gibbons to thank for that.
Copyright © 2006 Maggie MacLean
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