Virginia Home and Industrial School for Girls

Girls officially served under the authority of the reformatory until they were paroled for good behavior, transferred into other state institutions, or until they reached the age of 21, whichever came first.

[2] At first, the reformatory operated with partial state support on a farm of approximately 200 acres (81 ha) in Bon Air.

[2] In the summer of 1913, a controversy arose over the employment of a Black man who supervised the White girls’ outdoor exercise.

[3] After an investigation, the superintendent resigned and the State Board hired Anna M. Petersen, who had received a degree from Western Reserve University and a certificate in eugenics from the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Science in Cold Spring Harbor.

Petersen renamed the Virginia Home and Industrial School for Girls as “Kilbourne Farm,“ the land’s original designation.