Natalie Medley

Scholarship

Natalie and Michelle Daniel Jones working on the History Project at IWP, 2017

Natalie’s focus within the Prison History Project has long been the fate of women and girls who were trapped in Indianapolis’ Magdalene Laundry (a.k.a., the House of the Good Shepherd). She has presented her work to some of the top academic conferences in the nation, including the annual conference of the Organization of American Historians in 2019 where she presented Indiana’s Catholic Carceral Beginnings, 1878-1881.

We don’t have video of her OAH presentation, but you can watch Natalie presenting “Magdalene Laundries and the Framing of Female Sexuality, Identity, and Criminality in 20th Century America” to the 2019 annual conference of the Indiana Association of Historians.

When The New York Times ran a scathing article in October 2017 about the horrors of Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, The Lost Children of Tuam, Natalie, Rheann Kelly, and Christina Kovats immediately asked, What About the "Lost Children" (and Mothers) of America? which was published by the History News Network and The Marshall Project. They wrote:

In “The Lost Children of Tuam,” The New York Times tells the tragic story of “mother and baby” homes in Ireland, facilities for unmarried mothers where infants died by the hundreds. Those who survived were forcibly separated from their mothers and routinely abused. The mother and baby homes were closely related to and preceded by Ireland’s infamous Magdalene Laundries, Catholic institutions that enslaved thousands of “fallen” women during the 19th and 20th centuries.

What the Times article missed is the story closer to home: Magdalene Laundries existed in the U.S. nearly as long as they did in Ireland. They were at least as numerous in this country and just as brutal…[read more]

As a scholar, Natalie has been equally focused on the right of incarcerated people today to healthcare.

Here she presents "Living and Dying in Prison: Healthcare for Incarcerated People" to the American Studies Association's annual convention in Denver, Colorado | November 2016. Read the transcript.

Advocacy

People living in prison know the serious risks of speaking out about injustices. Perhaps more than any other woman incarcerated in Indiana, Natalie has chosen to speak out anyway, especially during the pandemic.  Here are three of her articles written from prison:

“Compassionate Release in Indiana”
IDOC Watch | November 14, 2020

Or listen to “Screaming in the Shower” on Indianapolis public radio where Natalie talks about a heart-wrenching suicide of a teenager on her unit. 

As the narrator observed: “Because she is able to, she feels a responsibility to advocate for her fellow incarcerees who are so often unable to advocate for themselves.” 

The Duchess of Stringtown

In 2017, twenty women at the Indiana Women’s Prison presented The Duchess of Stringtown, an original play by Michelle Daniel Jones and Anastazia Schmid about Indianapolis’ leading madam in the 1870s.  The play was performed first to an audience of historians who were attending a national convention in Indianapolis and the following night to a rapturous audience of 200 women at the prison.  Who better to play the smart, beautiful, high-spirited Duchess who sparred with the first superintendent of IWP than Natalie Medley?

Natalie Medley as the Duchess of Stringtown, in an original play by that name, performed at the Indiana Women’s Prison, April 20-21, 2017. Photo by Andy Spear.

The “Duchess” surrounded by her fellow cast members. Left to right: Lisa Hochstetler, Lara Campbell, Michelle Daniel Jones, Irene Price, Cindy White, Heather Shaw, Natalie Medley, Michelle Williams,Shirwanda Boone, Nan Luckhart, Jeneth Hughes, Danielle Green, Connie Bumgardner. Photo by Andy Spear.