[2] The complex was composed of two institutions: The Mercer Reformatory for adult women and the Industrial Refuge for Girls for those under 14.

Originally intended to provide reform possibilities, including curing alcoholism, the facility developed a notorious reputation during its lifetime.

It was situated west of downtown Toronto, on the grounds of the farm of the provincial asylum located to the north on Queen Street.

[6] At first, the Reformatory was primarily focussed on keeping women with alcoholic addictions or living a life of vice off the streets for terms of six months.

"[7] Despite its idealistic beginnings, the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women would become the center of controversy with allegations of torture, beatings, experimental drugs, and medical procedures, all in the name of reform.

[1] The Reformatory was to receive and reform women over the age of sixteen convicted of an offence for which a short term sentence of over 30 days to under two years was imposed.

[8] The legislature passed at the same time An Act to establish an Industrial Refuge for Girls to be located in a section of Mercer Reformatory.

[14] Under Section 17 of the Act, any person could bring before a judge any woman under the age of thirty-five, who was found begging or a habitual drunkard, or simply pregnant without being married, and potentially have her committed.

Milne also discussed how psychology was increasingly used instead of "old-time beating of unruly inmates" as a method of controlling behavior.

[17] At the time, the Reformatory was the only penal institution for women in Ontario and housed 159 inmates with sentences ranging from alcoholism to attempted murder.

[17] In 1953, reporter Frank Tupane of The Globe and Mail visited the Reformatory along with MPP J. Stewart, in response to allegations of physical abuse.

He confirmed the existence of the solitary confinement block in the basement, examined it, but held it was not "The Black Hole of Calcutta" as alleged.

The administration of corporal punishment was no longer done because Burrows felt it was unconstructive and that she would have to apply to the Department of Reform Institutions in each individual case.

[1] In 1964, the same year the Female Refuges Act was repealed, a grand jury was convened to investigate the reformatory, and was brought to prominence by The Toronto Daily Star's front-page headline "Secret visit to Toronto dungeons: Girls' Jail Shocks Grand Jury".

[19] Although the grand jury's report was challenged at the time by the Ontario Minister of Reform Institutions, Allan Grossman,[20] Toronto Star reporter Lotta Dempsey wrote that the paper's files were "full of stories of escapes from Mercer, harsh treatment of expectant mothers, riots", and more.

"[22] In April 1969, the reformatory was closed, officially replaced by the Vanier Centre for Women in Brampton, which merged the three institutions of the Mercer Complex.

"[27] The Mercer Reformatory was one of the institutions they were sent to and where questionable medical experiments were performed on these women without their informed consent.

Velma was one of the only survivors who, 60 years after her incarceration at the Andrew Mercer Reformatory in 1939, received compensation from the Ontario government.

[32] In 2004, she wrote a book about the events titled Incorrigible,[21] which is part of the Life Writing Series from Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

Senator Kim Pate and CBC helped get her son Robert Burke closure and recognition for his torture as an infant in the Andrew Mercer Reformatory.

As a four-month-old child, Robert was brutally beaten while being cared for by the matrons of the Andrew Mercer Reformatory.