A 1875 collection of official reports on Michigan’s public schools, reform schools, and penal institutions.
This volume presents extracts from Governor John J. Bagley’s annual message, along with supporting documents and reports. It describes the state’s approach to caring for neglected and dependent children, improving reform efforts, and how penalties and charities were organized in that era.
The book offers a window into how Michigan addressed poverty, crime, and youth through institutions like the State Public School and the Reform School. It includes discussions on costs, staffing, building needs, and policy changes intended to shape the future of state charity and correction work. Readers will see early proposals to modernize child welfare and reduce the punitive feel of institutions while aiming for more humane treatment.
- Learn how the State Public School and Reform School were operated and funded in 1874–75
- Understand suggested policy changes to age limits, detention periods, and governance
- See the role of counties, laws, and state boards in shaping charity and correction
- Get a sense of the period’s outlook on transforming dependents and juvenile offenders into productive citizens
- Aids for researchers of 19th-century social reform, governance, and Michigan history
Ideal for readers of historical governance, social reform, and Michigan’s 19th-century institutions.