She Chic

Anon.

She Chic, 1970’s

Woven cigarette boxes

Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women, Wetumpka, Alabama

She Chic is created from Salem, Camel, Marlboro, Pall Mall and Virginia Slim cigarette packing. The decorative scheme consists of horizontal rows of recurring motifs on squares rotated to a diamond orientation.

Julia Tutwiler Prison, (formally Wetumpka State Prison) was unusual for its progressive programs from which inmates benefited. Julia Tutwiler, called the Angel of Prisons and after whom the prison was named, was a noteworthy advocate for prison reform and education in the 19th century. Despite her enlightened views, she believed that resources should be spent only on white female inmates and that prisons should observe strict racial segregation.

Today, Tutwiler Prison is a high-security facility housing adult and juvenile offenders in an environment rife with violence, physical and sexual abuse. Monica Washington, an inmate, blew the whistle on Tutwiler on March 1, 2014, leading to an article in the New York Times spotlighting the horrific circumstances that prevailed in this Alabama State correctional institution. Real change has not come to Tutwiler.