The Federal Prison Camp, Alderson is a minimum-security United States federal prison for female inmates in West Virginia. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.FPC Alderson is located in two West Virginia counties, near the town of Alderson. A portion of the prison is located in unincorporated Monroe County, while the other portion of the prison, including the dormitories, lies in unincorporated Summers County. Four other area towns, Hinton, Lewisburg, Ronceverte, and White Sulphur Springs, are within commuting distance of FPC Alderson.HistoryIn the 1920s, there was a shortage of federal prison space for female inmates. Women offenders either were given alternative punishments or were housed alone within all-male institutions. Prison staff and fellow inmates sexually exploited girls and women who were incarcerated in these facilities.Mabel Walker Willebrandt, the Assistant U.S. Attorney General, first encouraged establishment of a facility for women. FPC Alderson, which opened in 1927, was the first federal women's prison in the United States. It was opened during a reform movement in the 1920s to help reform female offenders.
