The Lorton Prison Museum featuring the Lucy Burns Gallery at the Workhouse Arts Center is proud to present the third season of Learning at Lunch, a series illuminating aspects of the former prison’s 91-year history. Each month, we invite an expert to tackle a topic related to our complicated past. After a brief 30-minute talk, presenters answer audience questions, and all attendees are invited to visit the museum following the program. Table seating provided and attendees are encouraged to bring their own lunch; snacks and beverages available for purchase in the W16 Visitor Center.

In 1966, the courts declared “chronic alcoholism” an illness and not a crime, and with that decision, the Occoquan Workhouse would change considerably: 60% of the prison population was released, most of the work-related activities were shut down, with only the dairy remaining, and the Women’s Workhouse closed as well. The courts did not tell D.C. how to treat the alcoholics just released from Occoquan. It was decided to repurpose the Workhouse campus as a center to treat them, but only for a time. Author and professor emeritus Alice Reagan explores this little-known time in the prison’s history to shed some light on these mystery years: 1966-1982.

Free, no registration required