My name back in 1965 was ( Terry Lee Lyons ) Pregnant- inmate at Geneva… Fathers name of baby is ( John William Cuppernell Sr. )
Reading the above pleas / stories / posts … bring back Haunting memories of my own stay at Geneva..The guards / dogs.Locked in a cell that faced the ( cemetery ) many of us know- these graves are of -beaten – raped- murdered- young girls- Some headstones for empty graves- Babies stolen-sold to the highest bidder…. I will always wonder ( what happened to my son !!! ) If in fact I gave birth to a boy ( not allowed to see ) boy or girl? Was told boy….so named him John William Lyons….( Lyons ) my last name…They said he was adopted truth or lie ?

Geneva [which is all it was ever referred to in my day] was my home from the ages eleven to sixteen [1964 to 1969] and still remember it all like it was yesterday ~ and also remember the girls who were there with me ~ the matrons and the administrators ~ lived in several of the cottages there ~ including oak cottage which is where the most troubled girls were sent because they [along with Wallace Cottage were the only two cottages that remember with steal doors deadbolt locks] ~ You may remember talking and writing to me years ago Cherie ~ i was living in England then ~ since then my husband passed away and regrettably i returned to the USA ~ have no love for this country ~ and am sorry to have returned ~ my years in Geneva were possibly not as bad as they were for some because was a fighter and would not be bullied by the black girls ~ earned a certain respect from both the girls and the staff in Geneva during my time there ~ but it was still that saddest and most heart wrenching time of my life ~ Sharon Randall

I was “locked” up in one of those tiny rooms from Feb 1957 till March 1958……….It was pure hell. Being from a small town in south central Illinois. I didn’t know what to expect. Boy did I find out. I remember going out to the grave yard and pulling weeds from around the graves. I always wondered if someday I might be there myself. So many baby graves. And that is the reason I was sent there. Being Pregnant and in the 50’s from a small town they sent you away. And that is where they sent me. So many bad memories. I was made a ward of the court, when my son was born (in the back seat of the car they were taking me to the hosp. in) My son was taken from me and was adopted out. I will say that after about 38 years I finally did find him. We do not have a good relationship. He and his wife seem to think it was my idea to give him away, which isn’t/wasn’t true. I do have 2 grandchildren………..something I thought I would never be able to say.

My name is Mac English. My mother Barbara McNamara was incarcerated in the Illinois State Training school for girls Geneva, IL in 1968. I was born at the time of my mothers incarceration at St Joseph Mercy Hospital Aurora, IL in February of 1968. John A. O’ Dwyer was the person who certified my birth at the time as I believe he was the M.D. at the girls school then.

My mother is deceased now. She passed in 1992 at the age of 42. What I am after now is if anyone who can help lead me in a direction to somehow go about getting any and all records from that facility that could possibly lead me to who my father may have been. My father may have come to visit my mother while she was there. My mother took that to the grave with her but only giving me the name of my father who I have not been able to verify.

I just recently sent a letter to IL DOC under the F.O.I.A. requesting any and all records from that facility. I am still waiting for those results. Again any help would be appreciated. I am 45 years old now and time is running out. I need some closure in my life about who my father may have been.

Thank You

Mac English