Garrett Heyns Collection, 1913-1991 | Heritage Hall, Hekman Library

By Richard Harms, 1999

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Collection Overview

Title: Garrett Heyns Collection, 1913-1991

Predominant Dates:1935-1970

ID: COLL/348

Primary Creator: Heyns, Garrett (1891-1969)

Extent: 22.0 Cubic Feet. More info below.

Arrangement: Folder level description

Subjects: Criminals -- Rehabilitation., Heyns, Garrett, 1891-1969, Parole, Prison administration -- Michigan, Prison administration -- Washington (State), Prison labor, Prison psychology, Prisons - Officials and employees

Languages: English

Abstract

The collection details the various facets of the career of Garrett Heyns (1891-1969) including particularly his service for the Michigan Department of Corrections; his attempt at politics in West Michigan as a Democrat; his work in Washington, which includes raw data on his 1966 survey of the administrative situations in the fifty states and the District of Columbia; and his work on the Joint Commission on Correctional Manpower and Training during the 1960s. The material provides insight into the civil service reform efforts in Michigan during the mid 20th century, the development of education during the first half of the century, prison reforms, vocational training, and the status of penology.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The Garret Heyns Collection houses the personal papers of Garret Heyns. This collection, which dates from 1913 – 1991, consists of correspondence, speeches, articles, reports, clippings, scrapbooks, and one 35mm film, evidencing Heyns’s career as a penologist. The material provides insight into the civil service reform efforts in Michigan during the mid 20^th century, the development of education during the first half of the century, prison reforms, vocational training, and the status of penology.

The ‘Biography, Incoming Correspondence, 1935-1969’ series consists of biographical sketches of Garrett Heyns as well as over 30 years of correspondence. This series also contains correspondence and materials related to Heyns’s 1936-1937 and 1939-1940 candidacy for Michigan’s 5^th district. Other topics documented by correspondence in this series include Heyns’s major career transitions as well as his retirement and condolences after his death. Heyns’s personal accounts of the years 1937-1957 are included in this series. The ‘Outgoing Correspondence’ series is much smaller than the previous series but covers the same time period.

The ‘Correspondence from and about Inmates’ series contains correspondence between Heyns and inmates from Michigan and Washington. Two other prison employees’ correspondence are also included in this series. This series provides insight into the prisoners’ experiences. The prisoners express their frustrations and desires in the correspondence and interviews with Heyns.

The ‘Date Books’ series is composed of Garrett Heyns’s datebooks from the years 1930 – 1969.

The ‘Awards, Obituaries, and Eulogies’ series contains the materials described in the title and notably includes Calvin College’s first Distinguished Alumni Award. These materials speak to Heyns’s achievements and legacy.

Though the bulk of the collection documents Heyns’ career as a penologist, the ‘Articles and Speeches, 1913-1965’ series contains papers Heyns wrote as a student at the University of Michigan and as an educator in Holland, Michigan. In several of these articles, Heyns reflects on the state of the world between World War I and World War II. The subject of war and its effect on the prison system appears in this collection from time to time. This series also contains speeches about recurrent themes in Heyns’s career such as prison education, prison employment and calls for a more passionate society.

The ‘Articles and Speeches on Corrections and Rehabilitation’ series contains speeches and articles that look forward to the future of corrections. The bulk of the materials in this series were written for an audience of penologists, but several speeches appear to be written for a more general audience with the objective of informing them about corrections and rehabilitation.

The ‘Administration and Organization’ series consists of mostly speeches and articles about prison administration. The series covers a broad range of topics related to prison administration but a considerable amount of materials are related to staff organization and the hiring and training of competent prison employees.

The materials in the ‘Articles and Speeches, 1937 – 1980’ were written during the span of Heyns’s penologist career. The materials in this series cover topics including juvenile delinquency, prison mental health programs, parole, probation, sex offenders, and capital punishment. This series also contains materials for penology and prison management courses at the University of Michigan and a course in Crime and Delinquency that was offered at Calvin College.

The ‘Associations and Congresses’ series contains correspondence, reports, and, programs from prison organizations and events. A manual for suggested standards for a state correctional system is also included in this series.

The ‘Michigan Department of Corrections’, ‘Michigan Reformatory’, and ‘Reports on the Michigan Department of Corrections’ series document Garrett Heyns’s time as the Warden of the warden of the Michigan Reformatory and the Michigan State Director of Corrections. This series is composed of reports, memos, financial reports, essays, surveys and studies. The bulk of the material in this series documents the operations of the Michigan Reformatory in Ionia and the Michigan Department of Corrections as a whole. It contains some materials related to programming at the Michigan Reformatory including a list of high school courses offered to inmmates and programs from plays put on in the institution. This series also contains a detailed history of corrections in the state of Michigan. The subjects of prison labor, prison education, inmate health, prison riots, and parole are heavily featured in this series.

Collection Historical Note

(1891-1969)

Garrett Heyns (21 September 1891, Allendale, MI - 3 November 1969, Olympia, WA) was an educator and later a penologist of some accomplishment. A lifelong scholar, Heyns wrote and spoke extensively, particularly on the theme that education was important to self-improvement and dealing with the problems of society. Both in Michigan and in the state of Washington he worked diligently providing academic and vocational training to prison inmates and finding employment for them prior to their release on parole.

The son of William Wynant Heyns and Henrietta Tien, Garrett Heyns completed the two-year educational program at Calvin College in 1911; obtained from the University of Michigan an AB in 1915, MA in 1916, and a PhD in 1928. He taught and served at schools in New Jersey, Illinois, Iowa, and Michigan, and became the superintendent of the Holland, Michigan, Christian Schools in 1928. In 1937 he became the warden of the Michigan Reformatory at Ionia, Michigan, and was then appointed State Director of Corrections. In 1957 he was appointed Director of the State of Washington Department of Institutions. On 25 December 1916 Heyns married Rosa Klooster of Grand Rapids, Michigan. They had two children, Roger W. and Jacqueline J. (Rudeen).

Biographical Note

Subject/Index Terms

Criminals -- Rehabilitation.
Heyns, Garrett, 1891-1969
Parole
Prison administration -- Michigan
Prison administration -- Washington (State)
Prison labor
Prison psychology
Prisons - Officials and employees

Administrative Information

Repository: Heritage Hall, Hekman Library

Alternate Extent Statement: 44 Boxes

Access Restrictions: Collection open for research. Materials do not circulate.

Acquisition Source: Washington State Library

Preferred Citation: Preferred Citation: [item], folder, box, Garrett Heyns Collection, Heritage Hall (Hekman Library), Calvin University

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Biography, Incoming Correspondence, 1936-1969],
[Series 2: Outgoing Correspondence, 1936-1969],
[Series 3: Correspondence from and about Inmates, 1937-1967],
[Series 4: Date Books],
[Series 5: Awards, Obituaries, and Eulogies, 1959-1975],
[Series 6: Articles and Speeches, 1913-1965],
[Series 7: Articles and Speeches on Corrections and Rehabilitation, 1941-1968],
[Series 8: Administration and Organization, 1941-1968],
[Series 9: Articles and Speeches, 1937-1980],
[Series 10: Associations and Congresses, 1937-1968],
[Series 11: Michigan Department of Corrections, 1936-1957],
[Series 12: Michigan Reformatory; Ionia, Michigan, 1939-1961],
[Series 13: Reports on the Michigan Department of Corrections, 1938-1957],
[Series 14: Legislation and Proposed Legislation, 1929-1957],
[Series 15: Investigation of Southern Michigan Prison at Jackson, 1939-1949],
[Series 16: Washington State Institutions, 1956-1991],
[Series 17: States Responses of the District of Columbia to a "Survey on Administrative Situations in State Governments", 1966],
[Series 18: Background material for a study: "A Long Range Plan for the Colorado Division of Corrections,"; by Sharpe, Beto, and Heyns, 1968],
[Series 19: Joint Commission on correctional Manpower and Training, 1965-1969],
[Series 20: Unbound Reports of the Joint Commission, 1968],
[Series 21: Bound Reports of the Joint Commission, 1967-1970],
[Series 22: Michigan Inmates Newspapers],
[Series 23: News Clippings, Michigan],
[Series 24: News Clippings, Michigan and Washington State],
[Series 25: News Clippings, Washington State],
[Series 26: Publications, 1885-1886],
[Series 27: Addendum, 1912-1991],
[Series 28: Photographs],
[All]

Series 13: Reports on the Michigan Department of Corrections --- 1938-1957

Box 20

Folder 1: 1940 Survey of Michigan Penal Institutions --- 1940

Folder 2: Survey of the medical and dental facilities of Jackson Prison --- 1948

Folder 3: Recommendations to Governor Kim Sigler. Also a letter to the Governor --- 1949

Folder 4: Report to the President and Members of the Senate, with a minority statement to Senator Stanley Novak --- 1947

Folder 5: Survey of the Michigan Corrections System by Noel P. Fox --- 1949

Folder 6: Recommendations relating to Statutory Provisions, Policies, and Functional Organization of the Michigan Department of Corrections --- 1949

Folder 7: Staff report to the Michigan Joint Legislative Committee on Reorganization of State Government; by Donald Clemmer --- 1951

Folder 8: Michigan Corrections Survey by J. J. Sheehy --- 7/1953

Folder 9: Report of the Committee on State Prisons of the House of Representatives --- 2/1954

Folder 10: Minutes of a Michigan Committee on "Research in the Department of Corrections" --- 1956-1957

Folder 11: Unionism at the Michigan Reformatory --- 1955

Folder 12: Michigan Penal Problem-Proposed Character Clinic and Board of Penal Management --- undated

Folder 13: General comment on and proposals for the Southern Michigan Prison --- undated

Folder 14

Item 1: Michigan Reforms Its Reform Program, by James Raymond; “Institutional Merit System,” by James Raymond --- 1940
Item 2: “Psychiatric Clinical Services for Penology,” by H. Freedman --- 1946
Item 3: "Comparative Study of Forger,” by I. A. Berg --- 1944

Box 21

Folder 1: Annual reports of the Classification Committee of the Michigan Reformatory

Folder 2: Classification reports --- 1938-1946

Folder 3: Four reports on classification --- 1940-1941

Folder 4: "Parole in Michigan," a report from the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles --- 1939

Folder 5: Parole Procedure in Michigan --- 1939

Folder 6: "Social Interpretation-A Function of Parole Administration." G. F. Bush --- undated

Folder 7: Statements of the Parole Board --- 1949-1950

Folder 8: In-Service Training for Parole Officers --- 1949-1950

Folder 9: A study by the National Probation and Parole Association --- 1955

Folder 10: Report of:

Item 1: Senate Committee on Michigan Indeterminate Sentence Law --- 1952
Item 2: Indeterminate Sentences --- 1942

Folder 11

Item 1: “Michigan’s Experiment on Minimum Security Penology,” Vernon Fox --- 1949
Item 2: “The Staff of a Minimum Security Prison,” Dennis J. Fernly --- 1956

Folder 12: "A Survey of Security Camps," report, Price Chenault --- 1947

Folder 13: "Cassidy Lake Honor Camp" --- 1945-1947

Folder 14

Item 1: Education: Report to Warden on Department of Education, 1949 D. E. Clay; “Education—its contribution to young first offenders in the Michigan Reformatory" --- 1945
Item 2: “Group therapy—a Social Education Medium” --- 1954-1955
Item 3: “Intelligence, Race and Age as Selective Factors in Crime,” V. Fox --- 1943
Item 4: “I.Q.—a comparison of 1948 statistics to 1955,” A follow-up to a 1948 report

Folder 15

Item 1: Vocational Guidance: “A Prison Trade Students and Training,” E. R. Akers --- 1944
Item 2: “Social Re-education and Training in Mechanical Skills and Industrial Habits”; “Trade, Training, Michigan Reformatory, Problems and Recommendation” --- 1946
Item 3: Training Program, Ionia --- 1949

Folder 16: "Postwar Public Works Program for the Michigan Penal System" --- 1943

Folder 17: "Prisons in War-time," War Production Board --- 1943

Folder 18: "Postwar Penological Prospectus," by inmate Hurl and Sherwood --- 1944

Box 22

Folder 1

Item 1: Minors: Michigan Wayward Minor Law --- 1944
Item 2: Michigan Wayward Minor Division --- 1945
Item 3: Report on Wayward Minor and Juvenile Delinquents by the State Advisory Council of Corrections --- 1948
Item 4: Evaluation of Michigan’s Wayward Minor Law --- 1948

Folder 2: Report on Services Available to Michigan children --- 1943

Folder 3: Children with Problems-County of Kent, Bureau of Probation, Dept. of Correction --- 1943

Folder 4

Item 1: Digest of Survey Committee: Report, Boys’ Vocational School, Lansing --- 1945
Item 2: Vocational Enterprise --- 4/1942

Folder 5: Condensed Report of the Michigan Youth Guidance Program --- 1943-1947

Folder 6

Item 1: On Riots: “Report of the Board of Inquiry—Southern Michigan Prison Riot,” by Dodd, Rogers, Smith --- 1952
Item 2: “Message to Legislature,” by Gov. Williams --- 1953
Item 3: Letter to Gov. Williams from Parole Board, Pascoe, Bush, Eliakson

Folder 7

Item 1: “Michigan Prison Riots.” Report of special committee to study the Michigan Department of Corrections --- 1953
Item 2: By MacCormick, Clemmer, Waite, Wise. Comments by Warden Heyns

Folder 8: Clippings on the Riot at Southern Michigan Prison --- 1952

Folder 9

Item 1: Inmates’ account of the riot at Jackson Prison --- 1952
Item 2: Inmates’ diary concerning the riot --- 1952

Folder 10: Research, Report and Recommendation of the Seminar on Research in correctional Treatment. Department of Correction and U of M Social Science Division --- 1956

Folder 11: Miscellaneous items about Ionia by Garrett Heyns