Author seeks public’s help in telling history of Maine Correctional Center in Windham

By Ed Pierce

A Falmouth author is seeking the public’s help in gathering information for a short story he is writing about the Maine Correctional Center in Windham.

Author Brad Fogg is seeking the public's
help in telling the story of the history of the
Maine Correctional Center from anyone
who used to work there or has old photos
from years ago from there. COURTESY PHOTO 

Brad Fogg worked at the Maine Correctional Center for many years and says that he is trying to locate individuals or families of people who worked there years ago. He is hoping to include interviews with them or photos they may have about the correctional center for a story about the history of the facility.

“I’m writing a history of the first 100 years of the Maine Correctional Center and would like to speak with anyone who may still be around that worked or lived there anytime up to 70 years ago,” Fogg said. “I’d like to know what they experienced there.”

Fogg says it is an important project that he felt compelled to undertake.

“They will be tearing down the old buildings and building some new ones and I feel it is important to have something written down about the history of the Maine Correctional Center from people in Windham and the surrounding area who worked there,” he said. “I didn’t want this opportunity to pass without future generations knowing more about the history of this facility.”

The Maine Correctional Center in Windham was originally created in 1919 as the Maine Reformatory for Men by an act of the Maine Legislature.

At some point, the facility was renamed as the Men's Correctional Center and housed men as well as women.

Originally called the Reformatory for Men, it was later named the “Men's” Correctional Center. In 1976, the Stevens School was closed and the women were moved to the renamed “Maine” Correctional Center.

Today, the MCC complex includes a medium-custody facility which currently houses about 650 incarcerated men and women, as well as a 96-bed Minimum and Community custody facility for women called the Southern Maine Women’s Reentry Center.

The Maine Correctional Center is the primary reception center for the Maine Department of Corrections’ adult population.

Fogg has given presentations about the history of the facility in recent years, but now would like to include stories from anyone who may have worked there from the 1950s on in a short story format.

“I just don’t want the history of the correctional center to be lost,” he said.

To reach Fogg to schedule an interview or to contribute a photo, call him at 207-405-4420 or send him at email at Bradfogg@maindotrr.com <