About Escape to Walla Walla Prison: How a Young Girl’s Crime Spree Changed Juvenile Justice
Presented by Ken & Kris Bilderback, Pacific Northwest
historians & authors.
The 14-year-old adopted daughter of one of the Northwest’s
most-prominent pioneer families went on a crime spree in 1919 and was sentenced
to the men’s prison at Walla Walla because there were no juvenile facilities.
She begged to go to prison rather than return home, but a new system of
juvenile justice prevented that from happening.
About the Speakers:
Ken and Kris Bilderback have authored four history books that have
won prizes for history and literature at book festivals in New York, Los
Angeles, Hollywood, and San Francisco. Their latest, Law and Order at the
End of the Oregon Trail, explores the role of race, gender, and
anti-government sentiment in the evolution of Oregon jurisprudence.