THE ANNEX, WOW!
To the uninformed, THE ANNEX must have been named by someone like Robert Schuller, Norman Vincent Peale or no less than Dale Carnegie. The Annex was not a place to be entertained with hors’ d’oeuvres’ before the main display of a scrumptious dinner. And neither was The Annex anything like a parlor where special guests were entertained or introduced to other special guests before being announced by name as the butler presents you into the great room where everyone else is already enjoying even more hors’ d’oeuvres’ to a glass of wine and being able to shoulder up to the upper crust of society.
The Annex was, well, a place you tried to avoid. If you were a “guest” to the Annex it meant you had broken the rules again — you were at the BIS, FSB to learn to obey rules. The Annex was essentially a bit more serious confinement than just being in the BIS. Solitary confinement was the stiffest part of the Annex as levels of confinement went but there were dormitory (rooms) where four or five boys might be housed until their sentence was served. Single or solitary rooms were for the serious infractions. The following photo appeared in the 1971 issue of the FSB High School annual, REGALE, Page 73. showing three of the staff members during that period of time.
JERRY EATON, Head of Security in the last days of the FSB, defined the residents
of The Annex as follows:
1. Every runaway went to The Annex,
2. A boy may have been put in The Annex for his own safety, and
3. If a boy “messed up” in some other way like being unruly on the grounds.
Daily journals were kept by the officers in charge of the Annex. These journals were used to record the admission of a boy to the Annex, and his activity or behavior in the Annex. The records for one 24-hour period of time in 1974 is given below. Not the most exciting information but just the same, records are a must if any kind of tracking is needed, those journals were essential records. Any kind of misbehavior was noted by the Officer in charge and if the problem was serious, the RED PEN was used to note those issues.
But the boys who “got the point” of being in The Annex and got down to brass tacks to decide “what kind of a person this whole incident will make of me” would be released from the Annex and put back into cottage life. In one installment of these BIS-FSB articles (BOYS TALK sessions) one boy related that his stay in the Annex just about did him in – think of the worst result and he was almost there. But he finally decided he wanted to change and he wanted out of the Annex and the FSB and went straight from the time of his final release. If a boy went to the Annex and refused to become sufficiently rehabilitated he could be sent to TICO (Training Institution of Central Ohio, in Columbus) which was an “advanced” reform program for recalcitrant inmates—or perhaps more tougher, real imprisonment.
Just so you can say you know something about what went on in The Annex, here are some lines from a journal or two for one approximate 24-hour period:
9-28-74 – 2:00 to 10:00 pm – Norris & Bundock
Boys in Annex – 32
Boys admitted – 2
Boys released – 0
Total at 10:00 pm – 34
2:00 All secure, 32 boys
Count called into Mr. Francis (NOTE – Other than the names of guards, the names of the boys may be intentionally changed for reasons of privacy but realistically this was a day in LONG AGO TIMES.)
2:10 Keetow has visit – Back 4:00
4:20 Supper for 32 boys
4:45 Clean day room as needed. (Day Room was part of the Annex where boys were permitted to gather with other boys (if allowed) to read the paper and talk with other boys)
5:30 – Admitted the following boys by SS&C
Horner, Wm 93929 Scioto (COTTAGE NAME)
Washington, Lyndal 94133 Scioto
Cottage notified by Mr. Napier
NOTE: Ryen, Berns, Chizmader and Wrigg confined 9-30-74 – Continually causing disturbance in dorm. Warned several times. [RED NOTATION]
7:15 – Medication for Watalker, Lynn, Montmery, Meosts and Vault. (Hurle & Shelby for blood sample), Medication for Steust.
9:00 – All boys to bed.
10:00 – All secure 34 boys
9-29-74 10 – 6 Worthington – 34 Catliff
1:05 am – Medication for Stuwart
6:00 am to 2 pm Trowbridge & McGraw
Boys in Annex 34
Boys Admitted 4
Boys Released 6
Total at 2 pm 32
6:00 – All Secure 34 boys
Count called into Mr. Kelley
6:40 – All youths taking showers
7:10 – Breakfast for 34 boys
NOTE: Ryen and Wrigg confined for disturbance in dorm. Vault confined, did not take shower after given direct order. [RED NOTATION]
7:30 Admitted the following boy – SS&C (Safety, Security & Communication)
Sturre, G 92239 Harris cottage notified = Houseworth
8:15 Cleaning of Annex
8:25 Medication for Walkern, Charme, Moants, Gibborn & Montmery
8:30 Admitted the following boys by Mr. Houseworth
Claxten 94722 Muskingum (Cottage)
Lovelern 94941 Muskingum
Searched – Cottage notified – Mr. Landis
8:45 Admitted the following boy by Mr. Matheny
Cockel 94350 Scioto (Cottage)
Searched – Cottage notified – Mr. Robey
9:15 Released the following boys to Mr. Matheyn
Lyler 86392-CR Scioto (Cottage)
Wreght 91185 Cuyahoga
Gibbone 92913 Muskingum
Chismark 88650 Muskingum
Burnmes 91654-2 Maumee
9:20 Released the following boy to T.C.Y.
Pettin, John #93082 Hocking Cottage notitfed – Mr. Resdey
11:40 Dinner for 32 boys
2:20 All Secure – 32 boys
END of sample day in the Annex
The above records from the JOURNAL for one period of time that was more or less “normal”. Sometimes, depending on the amount of boys in the Annex or the specific mix of boys, things could get out of hand pretty quickly. I guess you have to factor in how inventive or creative any boy might be in any given day but having talked or communicated with employees who worked at the Annex or boys who spent some time there, the best entry for any one was “ALL BOYS TO BED”. Or as the Waltons might say, “Good Night John Boy.”
The hospital staff of the FSB was always on hand close by to take care of any serious or genuine problems if any boy or boys needed medical attention. The physical health of all the boys at the FSB was regularly monitored by the Hospital staff which was comprised of medical doctors as well as a dentist and a staff of registered nurses.
##### Above article Copyrighted 2011 by Bill & Jean Venrick, Lancaster, Ohio 43130