Laura Cornelius Conner: Arkansas’s Progressive Pioneer in Prison Reform

Laura Cornelius Conner was a social reformer from Woodruff County, Arkansas, and the only woman appointed by Governor Thomas McRae to the short-lived penitentiary board in the 1920s. During her time on the board, Conner became a vocal advocate for prison reform, ultimately leading to her being shut out by her fellow members. In addition to her prison reform work, which had lasting impacts on the state, she is known for her advocacy for educational improvements in rural Arkansas schools. Her work is extensively documented in her archival collection at the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. In honor of Women’s History Month, we are highlighting this exemplar of progressive women’s activism during the period.

Laura Cornelius was born on October 24, 1864, in Augusta, Arkansas. Like many other progressive women of her time, she received her secondary education outside of Arkansas, at Bellewood Female Seminary in Anchorage, Kentucky. After returning to Augusta, she became a teacher, following the career path of many educated women in the late nineteenth century. In 1886, she married Emerson Hall Conner, a businessman and planter. They had seven children before her husband’s untimely death in 1904. During this time, Conner focused on reforming local education, including curriculum standardization and funding local schools. She also supported young women outside of school, founding the Shakespeare Club, one of Arkansas’s oldest women’s clubs.

By World War I, Conner was well known for her community activism. She led Woodruff County’s Liberty Bond campaign and raised funds for French orphans following the conflict. Her recognition as a social activist at the state level grew, and by the 1920s, she was well known for her reform efforts. This led to her appointment in 1921 by Governor McRae to the newly established Honorary Penitentiary Commission.

At the time of the commission’s creation, Arkansas’s penal system was plagued by corruption, brutality, and the legacy of the convict lease system, which had been officially abolished in the 1910s. However, prison farms like Cummins and Tucker continued to function in ways that resembled the old system, with those incarcerated working in brutal conditions without pay. Functionally, the only difference between these practices and the convict lease system was control of facilities by the state rather than private interests. Additionally, the use of “trusties,” prisoners appointed to oversee fellow inmates, led to corruption, violence, and poor living conditions.

Conner was the only person appointed to the commission with a history of reform work. The other four members—all men—were planters by trade, and two even owned farms in Lincoln County, close to the Cummins prison farm. Those interested in reforming the prison system recognized the potential impact of Conner’s appointment and immediately began reaching out to her, including those incarcerated at Cummins.

In May 1921 Conner received a letter authored by an anonymous group of Black prisoners informing her of the dangerous conditions in which they were living and working. They cited physical violence, being overworked, and lacking appropriate medical care. They spoke directly of the fear of being murdered while incarcerated. Additional letters from families of those incarcerated substantiated those fears, as their loved ones had died under suspicious circumstances. Conner received countless letters recounting abuse to both male and female prisoners from those who had been directly affected by the prison system in the state.

Conner began publicizing these claims, suggesting reforms like access to laundry, clean clothing, and nutritious food, as well as limits on corporal punishment. Her actions, however, sparked strong opposition from her fellow board members, who dismissed her reforms as impractical and subversive. In August 1921, an article in the Arkansas Gazette criticized Conner’s suggestions, calling them “subversive of discipline.” In response, Conner published a letter in the same newspaper, making the front page, outlining the reforms she was advocating for.

In 1922, the local rotary club visited the Tucker unit and found no evidence of the issues Conner had raised, further complicating the reform efforts. No significant changes were implemented, and by 1923, Conner stopped attending board meetings. However, she continued to speak out publicly in favor of reforms, receiving numerous letters of support and even invitations to run for public office. Conner declined all political offers and never formally resigned from the board, instead choosing to protest its ineffectiveness.

Although she failed in securing substantial reform during her time on the commission, Conner continued to push for change in both the prison system and Arkansas’s educational system until her death in 1952. Her activism marked a shift in how women engaged politically during the early twentieth century, especially as they began to gain a stronger political foothold. Conner’s efforts reflect a growing awareness of the power women could wield in the public sphere, even as they faced significant challenges and opposition.

Her remarkable work and the challenges she faced are well-documented in her archival collection at the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, and Laura Conner High School in Augusta, Arkansas, is named in her honor.

To learn more about Conner’s life and contributions to Arkansas’s prison reform and education, we encourage you to watch this short video and also explore the digitized materials in the Laura Cornelius Conner papers. The full finding aid for the Laura Cornelius papers is here.

For more research opportunities, visit us in the Research Room of the Roberts Library.

By Danielle Afsordeh, community outreach archivist at the CALS Roberts Library

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