This image is the cover for the book Massachusetts Correctional Institution-Bridgewater, Landmarks

Massachusetts Correctional Institution-Bridgewater, Landmarks

Once known as MCI-Bridgewater and earlier as the Massachusetts State Farm, the Bridgewater Correctional Complex opened in 1854. It was one of several progressive charitable institutions the state created as a model for communities around the world. However, deteriorating conditions for its residents shadowed Bridgewater's evolution from an almshouse to a prison and hospital for the criminally insane. A century later, it was among the nation's most notorious asylums. Historian Michael J. Maddigan offers a riveting examination of this infamous history, including the inspiration for state-sponsored welfare, moral and legal challenges and the experiences of the people who lived and worked there.

Michael J. Maddigan

Historian Michael J. Maddigan has been engaged in research, writing and historic preservation for more than thirty years. He is the author of twelve previous books, including Nemasket River Herring: A History, Images of America: Middleborough, Onset and Point Independence, Spiritualist Onset: Talking with the Dead by the Sea and Muttock: Middleborough's Revolutionary Village. His work is carried in the Middleboro Gazette, for which he has written more than five hundred historical columns; is featured on the blog Recollecting Nemasket; and has appeared in numerous publications. A native of Middleborough, Massachusetts, he is the founder of Recollecting Nemasket, a small publishing press devoted to the history of southeastern Massachusetts. A graduate of Stonehill College, he holds a Master of Arts degree from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He currently serves as the chairman of the Middleborough Historical Commission and as a commissioner was responsible for listing South Middleborough in the National Register of Historic Places. He makes his home in a renovated 1863 woolen mill. To learn more about Mike's work, visit www.recollectingnemasket.com.

The History Press