‘An avalanche of tragedy’: Modern girls and the murder of Mrs Mick

Abstract

On 24 May 1925, three young women incarcerated at the Concord Industrial Jail Farm for Women (near Toronto, Ontario) wrestled the night matron, Mrs Mick, to the ground, tied her down, took her keys and escaped from prison. Tragically, Mrs Mick suffered a stroke and died while chained to the prison washbasins. Upon their capture, the two 16-year-olds and one 19-year-old were charged with murder in a case that would capture the attention of the local press and hold it for weeks. This article analyses this case as an exemplary instance of the distinctly gendered world of criminal offending. Characterized as 'an avalanche of tragedy' by the local press, the death of Mrs Mick offers historical testimony to the complexity of women's entanglements with the criminal justice system and to the relationship between women's violence and their victimization as criminalized subjects.On the evening of 24 May 1925, three young white women incarcerated at the Concord Industrial Jail Farm for Women (located just outside of Toronto, Ontario) called Mrs Margaret Mick, the night matron, into the detention ward. There they wrestled her to the ground and, apologizing for their actions, tied her to the water pipes, placed a pillow under her head, kissed her on the cheek, and left a glass of water nearby. They then took her keys and escaped from prison. Tragically, the abandoned Mrs Mick suffered a stroke and died an undignified death sprawled beneath the prison washbasins. Upon their capture two days later, 16-year-old Jennie McVinn, 16-year-old Bessie Carroll, and 19-year-old Isabel Prouse 1 were charged with murder.