Madeleine Zabriskie Doty

Madeleine Zabriskie Doty, JD, PhD (August 24, 1877 – October 14, 1963) was an American journalist, pacifist, civil libertarian, and advocate for the rights of prisoners, as well as the International Secretary for the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Early life and education Madeleine Zabriskie Doty was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, August 24, 1877, to Samuel and Charlotte Zabriskie Doty. She received a B.L. from Smith College in 1900, an L.L.B. from New York University in 1902, and a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva in 1945. While at NYU she became a charter member of the Nu chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi. Career Advocacy for prisoners After practicing law for five years in New York City, her interest turned to children's courts and delinquency and for three years she was secretary of the Russell Sage Foundation Children's Court Committee. As a member of New York's Prison Reform Commission in 1913, she voluntarily spent a week in prison to investigate conditions, adopting Maggie Martin as her alias. She described inhumane conditions in women's prisons, and advocated dramatic changes relating to prison management, prisoner autonomy, and prison activities. In addition to recommending improvements in food and sanitation, she advocated for the prisoners having a say in the way that the prisons were run. To that end, she proposed a system of prisoner self-government.