TRAVERSE CITY—From the pen of Pamela K. Withrow, Michigan’s first female warden of a male prison, and the recipient of numerous honors—including being named Warden of the Year by the North American Association of Wardens and Superintendents and induction into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame—comes a powerful memoir for “anyone interested in the real world of corrections.”
Told from a feminist perspective, Madam Warden: A Memoir of the First Woman in Michigan to Head a Prison for Men, is the insightful memoir of an idealistic innovator who became a prison warden. It carries the reader through Withrow’s first-woman roles at Camp Brighton and Jackson Prison and toward her appointment as the first woman to head a male prison in Michigan—the Michigan Dunes Correctional Facility.
The book tells of memorable staff and prisoners, shares stories about colleagues and mentors, and recaps incidents at prisons where Withrow worked during her twenty-five-year career. It covers the joys and challenges of prison administration and offers lessons learned.
One important aspect of Withrow’s career involved her efforts to implement and research evidence-based cognitive programs for inmates at the Michigan Reformatory. The basic premise of these programs asserts that how one thinks controls their behavior. Madam Warden includes a chapter about an inmate, Ron Hammond, who used his cognitive skills to turn a life sentence into a term of years and earn parole.
“Ron Hammond is the only prisoner who stayed in touch with me after I left prison work,” said Withrow. “He had committed murder when he was 17 and had been sentenced to life with no possibility of parole; that sentence was reviewed due to a United States Supreme Court decision. I attended his resentencing hearing in Shiawassee County and was delighted to hear he had been paroled to Kent County to continue his studies at Calvin University. It is immensely rewarding to know Mr. Hammond credits cognitive work for preparing him to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Calvin Prison Initiative. His story is a great example of prison/community cooperation in offender success. While cognitive work can set the stage for a paroled prisoner to stay out of prison, getting a job and maintaining family ties are key factors in community reintegration. It is important, also, that Mr. Hammond accepts responsibility for the life he took in a senseless crime and wants to live his own life in a way that honors his victim. It appears that he is on the path to success.”
Withrow’s own successful path started during her years in higher education.
“My studies at Lansing Community College and Michigan State were supported by a federal program that advanced book and tuition payments which would be forgiven if I worked in the law enforcement field for four years after graduation,” said Withrow. “I had briefly attended University of Michigan Law School and thought I’d return; however, I was promoted so rapidly in the corrections field that I no longer considered returning to law school.”
However, even with successful promotions under her belt, Withrow didn’t have her sights set on securing the top job within the prison system.
“Warden was not a career goal,” emphasized Withrow. “While I was the assistant deputy for housing inside Jackson, my goal was just to survive every day. I was not fearful for my physical safety. What was at risk was my mental health. The workload was crushing, and I was also divorcing, so my life was chaos. Perry Johnson, who was the director of Michigan Corrections Department, had about a dozen women he was fast-tracking, and it was his plan that one of us would become the first woman to head a men’s prison in Michigan. I have never known why I was the one he selected for that honor. Or perhaps I should say, challenge.”
Leaving Jackson Prison was important for Withrow’s mental well-being, but that didn’t mean that accepting the leadership role at Dunes Correctional Facility left her feeling completely confident. Quite the opposite, as she explains.
“I was moderately terrified. I knew I was not quite ready to be a warden; however, I had great respect for Director Johnson, and if he thought I was ready, I would do my best to live up to his expectations. My son reminded me recently that I told him (a high school sophomore at that point) that he needed to give me no trouble because I had been named the first woman to run a men’s prison in Michigan and I could not fail. That determination to succeed was what carried me through the first year as I learned the basics of managing the Dunes. The three and a half years at the Dunes prepared me for the much greater challenge of managing the Michigan Reformatory for my final 15 years in corrections.”
While Madam Warden focuses mainly on the professional life of Withrow, it was something quite personal that led her to write her important memoir.
“The book was written as a way to honor my husband, Bill Kime’s, admonition that I needed to tell about what it was like to be Michigan’s first woman warden of a prison for men because it was a part of the state’s history,” said Withrow. “To deal with my grief after his death, I started to review the files and other materials I had kept over the years with his idea of a book in the back of my mind. That walk down memory lane inspired me to begin writing an autobiography, which was published with the help of Mission Point Press. I didn’t consider myself an author; however, Mission Point Press helped me to become one.”
Madam Warden: A Memoir of the First Woman in Michigan to Head a Prison for Men is published by Mission Point Press, Traverse City, Michigan. The hardcover edition retails for $18.95 and the softcover for $14.95. Both are available in bookstores or online. To contact the author for events or signings, email pkwithrow@outlook.com.
About the author
Pam Withrow was born into an Indiana farm family near the midpoint of the 20th century, moved to Michigan in the turbulent ’60s, and was a pioneering woman in the Michigan Department of Corrections. After a shotgun marriage, she returned to college, divorced, became a welfare mother, and completed a BA at Michigan State University. With the help of a bus-driver boyfriend, she began work with the Michigan Department of Corrections in 1976. After only two years, she was promoted to become the first woman to supervise a camp for male felons. This was followed by work as the housing deputy inside Jackson Prison, which led to her appointment as the first woman to head a male prison, the Michigan Dunes Correctional Facility. She then served as the warden of the Michigan Reformatory, one of three penitentiaries in the state. She introduced cognitive work with prisoners while at the Reformatory, and it is now used throughout the department.
She was named Warden of the Year by the North American Association of Wardens and Superintendents, received honorary doctorates from Grand Valley and Ferris State universities, and was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame.
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