Life at FCI Alderson - Martha Stewart's Home For the Next 5 Months

It's been called "Camp Cupcake" in the media, but the federal prison for women at Alderson, WV will hardly be cushy for Martha Stewart.

Founded by representatives of 21 women's organizations in the 1920's, Alderson was the first federal prison for women. It's purpose was to protect women from the many kinds of abuse suffered while being incarcerated with men. The visionary founders believed that if female prisoners were treated with dignity and self-respect and given opportunities for education, they could earn a living and care for themselves and their families after their release.

Today Alderson is run on the typical military model of administration where intimidation and humiliation support the power and control male guards have over the female prisoners. The mostly male staff can order pat-down searches at any time and wander freely into the women's sleeping and bathing quarters.

Clare Hanrahan, an anti-war activist, spent 6 months at Alderson as a consequence of peaceful protest against the US Army School of Americas. She wrote this article about her experience there. An article in the Smoky Mountain News also talks about her experince. Hanrahan wrote the book Conscience & Consequence: A Prison Memoir about her time at Alderson and the abuses of the federal prison system. The book is available from the author's web site.