The Ohio Historical Society hosts an online index of Boys Industrial School inmates’ case records to improve access to this resource for genealogical and family history research. Currently, this database indexes the admission records from 1858 to 1944. The web address is www.ohiohistory.org/resource/database/industrial
The establishment of the Ohio Reform Farm (or School) was authorized by the Ohio General Assembly on April 7, 1856. A law enacted April 17, 1857, outlined in detail the organization of the institution. Located on 1,170 acres five miles south of Lancaster, Ohio, the Ohio Reform Farm was the first institution in the United States to be operated on the cottage or “family” plan rather than the “big-house” system. Each “family” of 40 boys, who ranged in age from ten to eighteen, was supervised by an “Elder Brother.” The Boys Industrial School was governed by a Board of Commissioners until 1911. At that time, control was given to the newly created Ohio Board of Administration, which in turn created a Bureau of Juvenile Research in 1913 to “test, examine, and evaluate delinquent juveniles entrusted to its care.” In 1921, this bureau was transferred to the Ohio Department of Public Welfare. The Ohio Department of Mental Hygiene and Correction began overseeing the Boys’ Industrial School in 1954. In 1963, the Ohio Youth Commission was created and assumed control of the Boys’ Industrial School. The institution ceased to operate as a juvenile reformatory in July 1980. The campus was converted to a medium security prison (Southeastern Correctional Institution) for adult offenders under the supervision of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Early records consist of a double page spread is divided into six columns: Name and Parentage 
(birthplace, date received, parents’ names and nationality); Commitment (offense, by whom committed); Education (including Sunday School for some years); Health and Special Marks; Employment (including parents’ occupations for some years); and Miscellaneous (bad habits such as tobacco, profane language, intoxicants, truancy; and remarks on discharge). Beginning in 1913, the form of the entries changed to one page per boy, and added more information, such as previous commitments and family data.
The Industrial School trained young men to specific trades and then placed the youth outside of the institution to work in these trades. In some cases, these placements were not successful, and the boys were re-committed to the School. Each time a youth was committed to the School, the original Inmate Number was used. Thus a name with multiple entries will have multiple commitment records.
You may use this index to obtain information about any admission records that you wish to order. You may use the microfilm containing the original inmate case records free of charge in the Microfilm Reading Room at the Ohio Historical Center in Columbus, and make copies there for a nominal fee, currently 25 cents per page. If you wish to mail in your request, Research Services staff will make uncertified copies and mail them to you for $7.00 per record.
May 19, 2007 at 11:56 am
I know that Bob Hope spent some time at the Boys Industrial School but when I searched the online index for him, I couldn’t find him. Was he in under another name?
May 24, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Jane,
Yes, Bob Hope did spend time at the Boys Industrial School. His given name was Leslie Townes Hope, but he appears in the records under the name Lester Townes Hope.
October 9, 2007 at 2:06 pm
Mary,
The Online Index to the Boys Industrial School records can be found in the text above or by going to http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/database/industrial/
The Ohio Penitentiary Records that we hold are currently not indexed online but we are going to start this project in 2008 so stay tuned!
January 21, 2008 at 9:46 pm
i have recently learned as a young teen my father was incarcerated at The boys industrial school in Lancaster probably in the 1960″s not sure but how do I find his records?
January 23, 2008 at 11:36 am
Kim,
We hold some records for the Boys Industrial School for the 1960’s. You can see what we hold by going to our catalog at http://www.ohiohistory.org/occ and doing an author search for “Boys Industrial School” However, where our records stop may overlap the period you are interested in, so you may need to contact the Department of Youth Services for more information. They are the state agency that was responsible for the BIS during the 1960’s. Their website is http://www.dys.ohio.gov/dysweb/default.aspx
November 10, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I am looking for info and photo’s about two 1916 Segrave fire trucks that the Boys Industrial School purchased in 1937. They belonged to the City of Lancaster and were sold to a man who then sold them to the school. The Lancaster Firefighters Historical Society recently purchased one of these trucks back and are in the process of resotring it. I would like any photo’s or inof on these trucks. Thank You, Jason
March 15, 2009 at 10:04 pm
BIS was no joke! I went there June 8, 1958 and left July 27th 1959. Such cruelty to young boys! Sadistic persons had their field days. A bullish man named Connors ran the creamery. I took a shortcut through the creamery and witnessed this man offer a cup of milk to whoever could take the hardest blow to the bhattoms of their feet with a small “Louisville Slugger” ball bat. They kept their brogans on but the painful grimaces on their faces told the yale. I stood with my mouth open til Connors said, What the … are you looking at?” Nothing, I said and walked up the steps to the bakery. That scene has haunted me forever. There were other things, many things that happened on “the hill”. My number was 54321.
The “Field” was worse!
June 20, 2009 at 7:53 pm
My 23 yr old great grandfather indicated on his Mansfield Reformatory admittance papers that he had served 2 months in Lancaster previously. I could not find him in the index. Was there some other Lancaster, Ohio prison for young men under the age of 20?
Thank you,
Doreen
September 4, 2009 at 1:58 pm
I am trying to find records on Joseph Bakalar. He entered on 9/28/1916 and was released 3/14/1925. His parents were Stephen and Claudia Bakalar. I was wondering if you have anything that can prove of this. I know his birthdate was Feb 4,1910. Anything would help.
October 14, 2009 at 1:47 pm
I tried truncating the search to Joseph B— but did not find any near matches. It is possible that the staff so mis-spelled his name upon entry that you would need to look through the 1916 volume page by page to find him. You are welcome to come into the library to do this or to contact us to have us do a paid research request for you.
September 13, 2009 at 8:49 pm
hi i was there in july 1976 and i was looking for my name. could you tell me how to find out. thanks robert dallas wilson
October 14, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Unfortunately, we do not have records for inmates living at the Boy’s Industrial School after 1944. You could try contacting the Department of Youth Services http://www.dys.ohio.gov/dnn/ for more information on recent activities.
September 19, 2009 at 9:26 am
I was an inmate at the Boy’s Industrial School twice as a teenager. The first time was in 1968, and I was in the Muskingum cottage for 7 months. The second time in 1969 in the Patterson cottage for 11 months. I look back at those times with fond memories, as it wasn’t a bad experience for me. I was a wild kid, and those were wild times. I would like to find more information about the institution as well as some photos.
October 14, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Unfortunately, our records do not cover this time period. We don’t have records after 1944 that document the young men residing at the Boy’s Industrial School. We do have some pictures, which you are welcome to come into the library to research.