A Visit with Elizabeth Fry: 1780-1845

A costumed, one-woman show with audience participation, featuring Roena Oesting as Elizabeth Fry, the 19th century Quaker prison reformer.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Gurney Fry found the notorious Newgate Prison overcrowded and filthy. The women’s section was even worse—with many women and their young children having no clothing and little food. Her work with the prisoners there led to reforms, not just at Newgate, but in prisons, insane asylums, hospitals, and poor houses throughout England. She was adamantly opposed to capital punishment and the growing “penitentiary” model of silent isolation. She urged education and training programs be set up. Her portrait is on the reverse of the modern £5 note.

Ticket Information
Free and open to the public

Event Sponsor
Women's Studies Colloquium and Political Science Colloquium, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Brianne Gallagher, 956-7464, Brianneg@hawaii.edu

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