Elizabeth Fry—Wikipedia Fry’s Key to Newgate— Museum of London / The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY
no longer a “Gay quaker” Fry loved music, dancing, and fancy clothes in her youth, but resigned them under conviction to become a “plain Friend”—a choice that would one day lead her to open Newgate’s doors with the key below.
Quaker minister alerted her to the horrors at Newgate, she immediately visited the prison herself. Initially the jailers implored Fry not to enter the women’s wards because she would surely be attacked. Despite these warnings she ventured in, Bible in hand. The unexpected presence of the quiet, composed Quaker took the convicts by surprise. She and a Quaker companion supplied clean straw, medicines, food, and flannel to clothe the cold, nearly naked children. Then Fry read from the Bible and prayed for the prisoners. Many had never heard Scripture before. The words and Fry’s mesmerizing, sweetly sedate voice profoundly affected the inmates. An observer noted, “a very solemn quiet was observed; it was a striking scene, the poor people on their knees . . . .”
spreading christ’s light Following Quaker teachings Fry believed that Christ’s light was in all, even those who had not heard of Jesus. She did not feel that the incarcerated women were irredeemable; instead, she firmly believed that kindness and sympathy would spark their reformation. To forge a bond between them, she addressed the prisoners as a fellow woman and a mother. Fry was significant not only for what she did do— supply immediate material improvements—but also for what she did not do. She did not ridicule; she did not dictate. Instead she asked the prisoners what they needed: “I am come to serve you, if you will allow me.” And then she listened. Her compassion inspired the prisoners, and soon they willingly adopted a strict
behavioral code: no swearing, no fighting, no drinking. Fry asked them if they would cooperate if she started a school for the children in Newgate (for both young criminals and children born in the cells and living with their imprisoned mothers). The women agreed. Within weeks Fry had created a classroom employing a system of mutual instruction promoted by Quaker Joseph Lancaster, whereby the main instructor taught a small group of “monitors” who then taught other groups of less advanced students. The first teacher was herself a prisoner, an educated young woman behind bars for supposedly stealing a watch. (She maintained her innocence and was set free, but died from tuberculosis contracted in the dank Newgate air.) So eager were many of the adults to learn that they clustered around the doorway to hear the lessons for themselves. Fry knew that productive labor would occupy the prisoners and develop self-sufficiency and selfrespect. She and her supporters supplied fabric so the women could sew and earn something for their personal needs. She persuaded authorities to grant the women more living space and to classify them according to age and seriousness of offense, separating hardened murderers from petty pilferers or those simply awaiting trial. In light of frequent sexual abuse by male jailers, she insisted that her charges always be under the care of women wardens, matrons, or visiting committees, a change that was permanently adopted. Fry also realized that her efforts needed institutional reinforcement. Soon she and 12 others created the Association for the Improvement of the Female Prisoners in Newgate. Similar committees eventually emerged throughout the United Kingdom and in Russia, Prussia, the United States, France, Italy, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. For the next two decades, Fry traveled extensively, consulting with these committees, assessing prison conditions, and advocating improvements. Her success became a sensation, and tourists flocked to Newgate to see Fry’s work. She was invited in 1818 to give evidence
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