March 2026 - Toronto ON
I read this book and it led me down a rabbit hole (thanks, Jinjer) which led me to writing this post and at the same time keeping a (analog) rabbit hole list. Read her post to make sense of what I just said!! More on this another time/post.
BOOK TITLE
Is titled after the real-life Toronto street located in Liberty Village, which was the location of the infamous Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women. The name highlights the irony that this street was the first one inmates walked down upon their release, often after enduring abusive conditions.
I am stunned, disgusted, by the horrendous treatment of these women. The atrocities these women went through is unimaginable.
Some of the women in the Mercer's prison were locked up because of mental illness (post partum depression)(domestic violence), prostitution, under age petty theft, inter -racial children, teen pregnancy, women having too many children with different fathers, gender identity, being a lesbian, being incorrigible (Emily's case for admittance). The only way to be released was approval from the doctor who was Iris Stone. It was often denied.
Basically, this story is about the worst abuses women have endured under the law while incarcerated.
Many of these laws were based on misogynistic legislation, old beliefs regarding women's mental health and many laws regarding marriage and the rights of husbands and fathers
I wanted to know why Emily couldn't just go to the prison warden and explain that she was undercover to get out after she got her story. I know, that wouldn't help the other prisoners, but she could get the facts out to the public.
So I asked AI:
Emily Radcliffe cannot simply go to the warden and reveal her true identity to get out because her undercover investigation is based on a legally binding, manufactured guilty plea that purposefully strips her of her rights.
As an editorial assistant at Chatelaine magazine in 1961, Emily goes undercover at the notorious Mercer Women’s Prison to investigate reports of abuse, but she finds that leaving is far more difficult than entering for several reasons:
Legally Mandated Incarceration: To get inside, Emily had her father (a man of standing) instruct a judge that she was incorrigible, uninterested in marriage, and disregarded authority, resulting in her being sent to the prison for a six-month sentence under the real-life Female Refuges Act.
The Power of the System: The corrupt environment of the prison, specifically the actions of Dr. Eris Stone, makes it clear that revealing her identity as a reporter would not lead to an immediate release. In 1961, "subjective misbehaviour" was heavily punished, and a woman’s claim of being a journalist would likely be dismissed or met with violence rather than a release, especially given the "dark secrets" the warden and staff were protecting.
The Goal Was a "Scoop": Emily initially wanted to be a "hard-boiled" reporter with a career-defining byline. Simply admitting she was a fraud would ruin her opportunity to gather the necessary evidence to expose the horrific conditions within.
Internalized Fear: As she witnesses true brutality, she realizes that the "system" of the time is designed to turn women into obedient, docile, or broken individuals, making it difficult for even a privileged woman like Emily to fight back once inside.
Emily's purpose changes from just getting a story to trying to help the women inside, making her undercover situation even more precarious, as simply walking out would mean abandoning the inmates she had come to know.
BOOK SYNOPSIS
Toronto, 1961: Emily Radcliffe works as an editorial assistant at Chatelaine magazine, surrounded by the best female reporters in the country, whose articles tackle the controversial topics no other women's publication dares to touch. When a bombshell letter from an inmate at the notorious Mercer Women's Prison lands on Emily's desk, she sees the scoop of a lifetime—one that could launch her career as a journalist. But after going undercover to investigate the inmate's shocking claims, Emily discovers that getting into the prison is the easy part; the real challenge will be getting back out . . .
Huron County, 1996: Unidentified female remains are discovered in an unmarked grave in a small-town Ontario cemetery, and Detective Rachel Mackenzie is tasked with unraveling the mystery. But when the investigation leads her to the now-shuttered Mercer Women's Prison, the family trauma she's kept buried for years threatens to surface.
Inspired by true events, Liberty Street is at once poignant and dazzling—an unforgettable, intertwining story about resilience, mental health, and the power of female connection.
The prison no longer exists, I do have this photo I took in 2018 of the Prison Chapel. It is still standing.
Mercer guidelines from 1916 state that all inmates were expected to attend daily religious services. Only Christian services were provided.
THE LAW
The Female Refuges Act: In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this Ontario law was used to incarcerate young women at the Mercer Reformatory—located in the area—for "moral transgressions" or being "unmanageable or incorrigible".
Click here to read Ontario (1914). "Female Refuges Act, RSO 1914, c 134" (pdf). Osgoode Hall, York University.
WIKIPEDIA
The Female Refuges Act was an act passed by the Ontario Legislature. The Act granted judges the power to order the incarceration of women in Ontario for various reasons such as public intoxication, and morals crimes. It also granted judges the power to order the placement of girls who were deemed uncontrollable or 'incorrigible' into reform facilities. In these "industrial refuges", the inmates (if able) were expected to work, the proceeds of which were used to support the institution.
The first Act governing houses of refuge, An Act respecting Houses of Refuge for Females was passed in 1893. It was replaced by the Female Refuges Act in 1913. The 1913 act added several other terms for commitment to a house of refuge. The 1919 amendment added provisions for commitment for "drunkards", those begging, and for parents to commit their "incorrigible" daughters.
Terms and conditions for committal
Under the original 1893 act:
A judge could order any woman convicted of a crime to be committed to a refuge instead of a prison or local jail.
An inmate of a training school for girls could be committed to a refuge to complete the rest of their term.
The 1913 act incorporated the 1893 version terms and amended this to limit the age of inmates covered by the act to thirty-five and under.
The 1919 act added:
Any person could bring forth a woman under the age of thirty-five to a judge if they have been found begging in a public place.
Any person could bring forth a woman under the age of thirty-five to a judge, "is an habitual drunkard or by reason of other vices is leading an idle and dissolute life."
Any parent or guardian could bring forth a woman under the age of twenty-one "who proves un-manageable or incorrigible"
A judge or magistrate could send the woman to a refuge for a period of no more than five years,which was later reduced to two years in the 1919 version of the act.
Amendments
Subsequent amendments referred to matters of administration, such as municipal regulations. The 1939 amendment changed the terms of transfer from an industrial refuge from those "unmanageable or incorrigible" to any inmate to a "common gaol" or the Mercer Reformatory. In 1942, women sentenced to a training school could now be ordered to serve out their sentence at a refuge. The 1942 amendment also added the provision that orders under the act could now be appealed at the Ontario Court of Appeal.[8] In 1958, the administration of orders under the act became the responsibility of the Deputy Minister of Reform Institutions.
House of Refuge or Industrial Refuge
An "industrial refuge" was simply an institution designated by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council as a place to which females could be committed. One prominent institution was the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women in Toronto, which had as one department the Industrial Refuge for Girls. Another was Belmont House in Toronto, which opened in 1853 and closed in 1939. Roman Catholic women were sent to the "Good Shepherd" in Sudbury, and juveniles were sent to the Galt reform school.
Repeal
In the years leading up to 1964, increasing scrutiny was given to the primary facility, the Mercer Reformatory. In 1964, the Government of Ontario decided to repeal the act, passing An Act to repeal The Female Refuges Act. It also convened a grand jury to examine the Mercer Reformatory. They found deplorable conditions and recommended several reforms. The Mercer Reformatory was closed in 1969, five years later.
One woman, Velma Demerson, was incarcerated in 1939 because she was unmarried and living with a Chinese man. She was deemed incorrigible and placed in Mercer. Although pregnant, she was institutionalized for a period of ten months. She would later sue the Ontario government and receive an out-of-court settlement and an apology.
More Reading
SOURCE AndrewMercerReformatory.org for the following:
The Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Females King St. W., Toronto, c.1893. (Currently the site of Alan Lamport Stadium.) Photo from page 267 of The Toronto Board of Trade: "A souvenir," by Sabiston Lithographic & Publishing co. - Courtesy of the Toronto Public Library, Baldwin Collection 971.354 T59.
In 2019, Dr. Alanna McKnight stumbled upon an old Victorian building at the corner of Fraser Avenue and King Street West in Toronto, Ontario. After investigating, she discovered that the house was located on the grounds of the notorious Andrew Mercer Reformatory—now the site of Lamport Stadium in Liberty Village.
Recognizing the national significance of the reformatory, Dr. McKnight submitted an application for a commemorative plaque to Heritage Toronto. In the fall of 2019, the Heritage Toronto board accepted the proposal and began securing funding.
Once we (Heritage Toronto) became aware of the initiative, descendants of former prisoners — including Mercer babies — actively joined the effort, contributing research, historical records, and lived experience to help shape the narrative and ensure the broader story of the Mercer Reformatory was represented. In December 2021, a motion initiated by former Toronto City Councillor Joe Cressy was successfully passed, and funding for the plaque was approved.
Canada’s first female-only prison was here from 1880 to 1969. The women and girls who were held at the Andrew Mercer Reformatory had been in conflict with the law, many accused of immoral actions. A facility for younger women – the Industrial Refuge for Girls – was attached to the main building.
While the Mercer Reformatory operated, the law strictly controlled women’s lives. Many poor, working class, or disabled women were put in prison for homelessness, drunkenness, unruly behaviour, and petty crimes. Women could be held indefinitely for up to two years, in many cases without a trial, based only on sworn testimony.
Some were jailed merely for actions then considered immoral, like dating someone of a different race or becoming pregnant, consensually or not, outside of marriage. Prisoners’ children, including babies born at Mercer, could be placed for adoption without consent. Prisoners were trained in duties expected of women and exploited for their labour.
Many prisoners suffered dire conditions and painful mercury and arsenic treatments for sexually transmitted infections, even if they tested negative. By the 1950s, Indigenous and other racialized women were overrepresented in the prison. Many women and babies died at Mercer.
In 1964, a Grand Jury report revealed negligence, abuse, and rundown facilities. Prisoners were moved in 1969 and the site mostly cleared. The appalling treatment of prisoners had lasting effects on those held there, their families, and descendants. As of 2023, there has been no public inquiry into the Mercer Reformatory.
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