Elizabeth Fry

The biography traces the life of a Quaker philanthropist whose upbringing and faith inspired a long campaign to ameliorate conditions for incarcerated women and children. It recounts early years and religious influences, her work confronting Newgate's overcrowding and vice, the establishment of a prison school and aid networks, testimony and advocacy aimed at legal and disciplinary reform, inspections of continental prisons, and evolving theories of confinement and rehabilitation. Chapters also examine domestic and religious life, other charitable endeavors, public recognition, and the final years of her career.