{{short description|Former juvenile prison in Connecticut, United States}} {{Use American English|date=August 2025}} '''Long Lane School''' was a prison for juvenile inmates in Middletown, Connecticut. Historically a prison for delinquent girls, it underwent various name changes, was acquired by the state in 1924, and began housing boys in 1972. Prior to its 2003 closure, it was operated by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, and was for inmates of the ages 11–16.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/19980213114423/http://www.state.ct.us/dcf/office.htm DCF Offices and Facilities]." Connecticut Department of Children and Families. February 13, 1998. Retrieved on December 2, 2010.</ref> It was a locked and high-security facility.<ref name=SoperLonglaneClosing>"[http://m.journalinquirer.com/mobile/archives/new-girls-unit-to-open-at-children-s-place/article_6a00a999-555b-5de4-9fd4-97fd7a7d295c.html New girls unit to open at Children's Place]." ''Journal Inquirer''. Tuesday July 16, 2002. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.</ref> In its lifetime, Long Lane remained unfenced.<ref>{{cite news|author=Hamilton, Elizabeth|url=https://www.courant.com/1999/08/20/getting-long-lane-right/|title=Getting Long Lane Right|newspaper=Hartford Courant|date=1999-08-20|access-date=2019-05-10}}</ref>
==History== Initially a private charitable organization, it was established in 1868 as the '''Industrial School for Girls''',<ref name=CTLibrary>{{cite web|url=http://www.cslib.org/agencies/LongLaneSchool.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912014239/http://www.cslib.org/agencies/LongLaneSchool.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-09-12|title=Long Lane School|publisher=Connecticut State Library|accessdate=2019-05-10}}</ref> with the Connecticut Legislature approving the plans for the facility.<ref name=Leavittp1>Leavitt, p. 1.</ref> {{convert|45.71|acre|ha}} of land,<ref name=Leavittp2>Leavitt, p. 2.</ref> in Middletown, was donated for the facility;<ref name=CTLibrary/> Middletown's proximity to Hartford and New Haven, which it was between, and its accessibility to the Connecticut River boat services, were the reasons for its selection. Sarah A. Leavitt, author of "Neglected, Vagrant, and Viciously Inclined: The Girls of the Connecticut Industrial School, 1867-1917," stated that Farmington was the only other site seriously considered for the facility.<ref name=Leavittp1/> The previous Henry Hall and Sweet properties housed Long Lane.<ref name=Leavittp2/>
On June 21, 1924, the prison was renamed '''Long Lane Farm''' as the State of Connecticut acquired it. It received the name Long Lane School in 1943.<ref name=CTLibrary/>
In 1956 Wesleyan University attempted to acquire much of the property to expand its campus. By 1957 the university canceled the deal as the cost to acquire the land would be too great; instead the university acquired other property.<ref name=Mayerwitz>{{cite web|author=Mayerwitz, Scott|url=http://www.wesleyan.edu/weshistory/longlane/longlane.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120906233336/http://www.wesleyan.edu/weshistory/longlane/longlane.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-09-06|title=Attempted Acquisition of Long Lane, 1956-7|publisher=Wesleyan University|accessdate=2019-05-10}}</ref>
In 1970 Long Lane School became a part of the Connecticut Department of Children and Youth Services, which was renamed Department of Children and Families in 1993. In 1972 the Connecticut School for Boys in Meriden administratively merged into Long Lane, with the boys transferred to Long Lane.<ref name=CTLibrary/>
A 15-year old prisoner from New Britain, Tabitha Ann Brendle, became the first inmate of Long Lane to ever commit suicide; her death caused prompts to have juvenile corrections in Connecticut reformed.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.courant.com/2005/08/02/a-chronology-of-failure-a-brief-history-of-the-connecticut-juvenile-training-school/|title=A Chronology Of Failure A Brief History Of The Connecticut Juvenile Training School|newspaper=Hartford Courant|date=2005-08-02|access-date=2019-05-10}}</ref>
By the 1990s the State of Connecticut had plans to upgrade the security of Long Lane. Scott Mayeritz of Wesleyan University stated that the Long Lane campus building was "falling apart".<ref name=Mayerwitz/> In 1999 Eric M. Weiss of the ''Hartford Courant'' stated that "Students and staff describe Dickensian conditions in which students are shackled to beds and proper plumbing is a privilege."<ref name=Weissformeroff>{{cite news|author=Weiss, Eric M.|url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1999-01-08-9901080293-story.html|title=Former Official To Spearhead Long Lane Effort|newspaper=Hartford Courant|date=1999-01-08|accessdate=2019-05-10}}</ref> A Connecticut child advocate stated that the Long Lane facility was "appalling".<ref name=Weissformeroff/>
In the 1990s Wesleyan University chose to pay $15 million to purchase the Long Lane campus to avoid having a facility with an obvious prison appearance on the boundary of the university, as the state was planning to erect a security fence; area residents disliked the perception of favoritism towards the university.<ref name=Mayerwitz/>
As of 2002 about 35 girls resided at Long Lane.<ref name=SoperLonglaneClosing/> The facility had three cottages for boys and one for girls.<ref>"[https://www.cga.ct.gov/ps99/pridata/studies/DCF%20Chapter%20V%20Final%20Report.htm Chapter Five]." Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee, Department of Children and Families. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.</ref>
In 2002 the state announced that the Long Lane School, then the state's designated juvenile center for girls, was closing. Girls were moved to the Connecticut Children's Place in East Windsor. The closure occurred after the Attorney General of Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, and a state child advocate, Jeanne Milstein, investigated a suicide attempt at Long Lane and then asked DCF to review its practices regarding the safety of delinquent girls.<ref name="LongLaneClosed"/> Long Lane was scheduled to close on December 30, 2003.<ref name="LongLaneClosed">Seay, Gregory. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20121103152936/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/245996371.html?dids=245996371:245996371&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+26,+2002&author=GREGORY+SEAY%3B+Courant+Staff+Writer&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=LONG+LANE+TO+CLOSE+SOON+%3B+GIRLS+FROM+SCHOOL+TO+BE+DISPERSED&pqatl=google LONG LANE TO CLOSE SOON; GIRLS FROM SCHOOL TO BE DISPERSED]." ''Hartford Courant''. November 26, 2002. B1. Retrieved on August 23, 2010.</ref> It instead closed February 7 of that year, with boys sent to the Connecticut Juvenile Training School (CTJS) in Middletown and girls sent to various other facilities.<ref name=CTLibrary/>
==Demographics== In 1998 about 76% of the prisoners were of racial groups other than non-Hispanic white.<ref>{{cite news|author=Blint, Dwight F.|author2=Colin Poitras|url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1998-12-09-9812090191-story.html|title=Long Lane Population Is Mainly Minority|newspaper=Hartford Courant|date=1998-12-09|accessdate=2019-05-10}}</ref>
==References== * {{cite web |author=Leavitt, Sarah A. (Class of 1992)|url=http://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1388&context=etd_hon_theses |title=Neglected, Vagrant, and Viciously Inclined: The Girls of the Connecticut Industrial School, 1867-1917|publisher=Wesleyan University Honors College |date=April 1992|place=Middletown, Connecticut|accessdate=2013-08-20 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906021457/http://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1388&context=etd_hon_theses |archivedate=6 September 2013 |df=dmy-all }} - Honors College Bachelor's Degree Thesis
===Notes=== {{reflist}} {{Middletown, Connecticut}} {{Juvenile prisons in the United States}}
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Category:Prisons in Connecticut Category:1868 establishments in Connecticut Category:2003 disestablishments in Connecticut