Jail Journal by Nancie Wiseman Attwater Book Review and Author Interview

For three years I worked in corrections, though I never stepped foot in a jail or prison. Even from behind a computer screen, I could feel myself simultaneously judging and sympathizing with the inmates based on what little information I could see about them. It’s wrong to form assumptions about a person based on their circumstances, but it’s also a part of human nature. I wonder how I would have perceived these same inmates had I gotten to know them personally.

Author Nancie Wiseman Attwater has more clout than I do in that department with the years that she spent teaching sewing to female inmates at a California county jail. Attwater has chosen to share her stories and those of the inmates she encountered in her memoir, Jail Journal: Sewing Behind Bars. Below is my review of Jail Journal along with an interview with Attwater about her experiences both working in the jail and writing the book.

Jail Journal book summary

Jail Journal chronicles Attwater’s eight years teaching sewing to various female inmates at the county jail. After a chance meeting with a deputy of the jail in a bookstore, Attwater is offered and accepts a position as part of an expanding program. There, she learns the many protocols involved with simply visiting a jail let alone teaching at one.

Just getting the program in place involves many hoops filled with limited resources, tight security, and dozens of rules to keep the inmates from smuggling out dangerous materials or taking advantage of the privileges of joining a class. Once in place, Attwater then frequently butts heads with deputies, unwilling inmates, and sometimes near impossible needlework requests. What makes the headaches worth it, though, is Attwater’s growing relationships with her students.

Some women join the class just for something to do or the rare privilege of being able to listen to music. Others really focus on the task at hand. Many fall somewhere in the middle. Generally, though, Attwater bonds with the women, listening to the stories of how they ended up in jail, how they cope, and what is waiting for them on the outside. Sometimes the conversation becomes more therapeutic than the actual sewing. However, the sewing gives them purpose and productivity as they sew various projects from a custom-made gown to give an oversized inmate some dignity to special quilts to commemorate the victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Florida.

Power struggles

Jail Journal is first and foremost a memoir, a look at jail from the unique perspective of an outsider who has no personal ties to the inmates and no obligation to maintain order except in her own classroom. Attwater brings an innocently ignorant perspective, as would most who step foot in a jail setting. She comes as unbiased as a person can be, often serving as a support system for these inmates who feel oppressed by the strict rules and lifestyle that they must abide by while in jail. The sewing class allows them to breathe a little easier throughout its duration. However, it can also provide an opportunity to take advantage of the access to otherwise restricted materials.

Attwater is not naïve to the manipulation that can befall a trusting and sympathetic person like herself. However, she is still vulnerable to these manipulations as her “girls” find ways to slip through the cracks of the rules and regulations of the class. But more often than not, the “students” are protective and defensive of their teacher, shaking out the bad apples so that Attwater can dispose of them and allow her program to continue on.

She tends to butt heads more with the deputies than her students. This power struggle continues throughout her time as a teacher, and that time ultimately ends because of a large battle lost.

The narration

Despite its title, Jail Journal is not set up in a journal format. Instead, it’s more of a “greatest hits collection” of Attwater’s best and most personal stories from her time at the jail. The story follows a mostly linear timeline of events from the time she gets the job to the time she leaves. It begins and ends abruptly with the real meat of the story falling in the middle where it should.

Attwater puts most of the focus on the class and her students, taking time to break down some of the terminology and issues that these women face. From explaining the capture and sentencing of ICE detainees to painting a picture of the habits and customs of the convicted criminals and how they bend, break, and adhere to the rules of the jail, Attwater shows us the resourcefulness as well as the deceitfulness that can occur in this mini-society day in and day out. She tends to condone certain behaviors in the jail while condemning others, using her own moral compass to detect right from wrong while also bending the parameters of that compass to bring understanding to a situation that is often neither black nor white.

Sewing

The sewing aspect of the book isn’t technical or drawn out. Attwater uses each project as a way to chronicle her time in the jail and the ways that she helps the inmates to be useful while developing their skills, and even create special pieces for themselves. She shows how she was taken advantage of by the authority figures by throwing sometimes difficult projects with slim time frames at her to complete at her own cost and time and with minimal useful help.

She was always thinking of ways to treat her students, whether it was with a spa day or candy on holidays, often with pushback from the staff and even betrayal from the inmates she trusted to help her with her endeavor. However, sewing was her number one priority, and the thing she took the most pride in were the finished projects that her students helped her create.

My recommendation

I recommend Jail Journal to anyone who is interested in learning about the prison system, who loves realistic yet hopeful portrayals of tough situations, and who loves memoirs about interesting workplaces. Attwater’s compassion and enthusiasm is what not only enabled her to work in such a dark and scary setting, but it also allowed her to thrive in it.

She accepted the darker sides of the women she taught, but she also understood that they often had that darkness thrust upon them. And by using their hands and being creative and productive, she gave them a purpose while they waited to serve their time and be sent back into society, whether temporarily or permanently.

An interview with Nancie Wiseman Attwater

1. You briefly touch on your sewing background at the beginning of the book. Can you elaborate on when you learned to sew and how and why you kept it up?

My mother taught me to sew at about age five. My father passed away when I was four, and sewing was the only way I would eventually get new clothes when I went to school. As I got older, I sewed all my own clothing and even helped my mother who was a seamstress, with some of her work for her customers. I would cover buttons and sew them on, or hand sew hems etc.

I was alone in the evening after about age 12, while my mother worked at another job so I would first do my homework and then fill the rest of the time sewing and knitting. I continued to sew through college while working in a fabric store. I made wedding dresses for people to pay for my nursing education. I would eventually take up quilting and open a yarn store. I, frankly, can’t sit down and do nothing. I must have some type of needlework in my hands. Right now, I am doing needlepoint which has gotten me through lockdown and the pandemic.

2. What is your writing background? Have you had any formal training? What made you decide to put your experiences teaching classes at the jail into a book?

When I was in high school, I wrote a lot of poetry and when asked what I wanted to do when I graduated college my answer was to write books. I was an avid reader and loved books. I wrote a small book of poetry in college that one of my friends printed into a little pamphlet type book. We never sold them, just gave them away.

I went to nursing school, as I knew being a writer wasn’t going to get me very far at that time and did a lot of writing while I was a nurse, taking notes etc. None of it like writing a story, of course. When I owned my yarn store, I wrote many articles and patterns for magazine, handouts for classes I taught nationwide and finally several books. Twelve books, on knitting, crochet and quilting in fact.

I only had the usual English classes in high school and college, none really geared toward being an author. I always had pretty good language skills, so it must have done some good to take these classes.

I started writing Jail Journal while I was still teaching at the jail. I meant it to be a journal for myself. I had so many experiences there that I wanted to remember them all, and the best way was to write them down.

The women inmates were a variety of nationalities, ages, talent, problems, and crimes, and they always made my day when I went to teach them. They had amazing stories to tell as well, and I knew I would be the only one that could share them beyond the jail.

The more years I taught there, the more I had to write, and then I couldn’t stop. I decided to start working on the book more seriously when my time at the jail ended and before I knew it, there were so many chapters I had to pick and choose what the public should be allowed to read.

3. How would you rate the skill level of the best sewers in your class? Did you ever believe any of them to be able to find work sewing on the outside?

Some of my best sewers were better at sewing than I was. I can honestly say some created shortcuts I never thought of or had worked on projects on the outside that would have even impressed my mother.

Most of these gals were from South America and could hand sew as proficiently as a sewing machine. Many of the county girls, as they were called, from the area were slow to learn and not very neat and tidy with their sewing, but they were interested in trying, but sometimes I think they just wanted to break the monotony by coming to class.

If you made the effort to come to class and sew, I would always be there to help with whatever problem they encountered. One of my first sewers had worked with leather making jackets and fancy gear for horse shows. She was a rare bird, but she certainly knew her stuff.

I did hope that someone would find a job sewing, but one problem they would encounter is that any dry cleaner, or alteration service would use commercial sewing machines which are much bigger and heavier to use than the small machines we used that were from the local fabric store. If they went to prison, they would learn on the commercial machines.

Sewing with me often got them into the prison program because they had already learned to sew. In prison they learned to make clothing, which was really something I couldn’t teach them.

The other problem was that most of my girls lived on the street when they weren’t in jail and were not motivated to get a job. You can’t do drugs every day and thread the needle of a sewing machine proficiently, not to mention work on someone’s expensive clothing.

4. Had you been given adequate resources at the jail, what materials and projects would you have tackled with your classes that you weren’t able to do on your own?

The one project that I would have loved to have made for the inmates are coats, or capes out of the old blankets from their cots. We had the resources; I just couldn’t convince anyone it was a good idea.

It was tragic to me that we cut up these heavy blankets to make blankets for the animal shelter, but we could not make something the inmates could wear when they were released in the winter. You see, if you are arrested and sentenced to jail during the summer, the clothes you wore in that day get stored away for you to wear when you are released. If that happens to occur in the winter, then you are given the tank top and shorts you were wearing in the summer to wear when you are released in the winter. This also happens in the dead of night when it can be quite cold, windy, or rainy.

We also could have made some much larger quilts and toys for the kids, but the supplies were expensive, and time was an issue. Many of the girls didn’t have a long attention span and liked to jump from project to project rather quickly as well.

5. Why do you think there was so much pushback from the higher ups in the jail which caused so many roadblocks for you during your time in the jail? Do you believe they were truly inconvenienced or were they sometimes abusing their power?

Many of the problems I believe came from the fact that I did not follow the jail rules. The women could give me a hug and truly liked spending time in the sewing room. They did not feel that way about the deputies. I also wasn’t given any rules to follow because they had never had anyone come to the jail, volunteer their time to teach and pay for all the supplies.

I often thought the deputies have so much to worry about, as far as the inmates, they didn’t have time to be “nice.” I used to say they went to “mean deputy school” before they got the job. Some of them flunked out of deputy school for being a deputy on the streets, or as we said, “They couldn’t get over the wall.” This meant in training they had to run an obstacle course and they couldn’t make the last hurdle of going over about a ten-foot wall. Working in the jail was the only other job and it wasn’t nearly as exciting as being a “cop on the beat.” I guess you could say they couldn’t get over the jail wall either.

The recidivism rate is very high in jail and working with the same inmates over and over is exhausting. Sending the inmates off to rehab programs and having them return in a short time is so difficult to watch when you think you are doing your best to help them.

There were also fights, stealing, medical issues and other problems with the inmates and the constant guarding and trying to guess what they might do next to get in trouble is difficult and exhausting. They also rotated shifts every six months and the deputies that were on night shift were just too darn tired to care sometimes.

I also believe it is a power thing. The deputy swagger was quite apparent sometimes, and if I had a question, got in the way, or they just didn’t know what to do with my enthusiasm they would just shut down everything I tried or wanted to try to do. Many believe the inmates are not deserving of anything, even a book to read.

I got along with many of the deputies and loved working with them, but you know it just takes one to sour the experience. The male sergeant that helped me start my program gave me a hug every time he saw me. He was a gentle giant to my pint size.

6. What advice do you have for those who plan to work in a jail setting in a role similar could be to yours?

It is a very rewarding experience to work with the forgotten in our society. The stories will break your heart and you will go home happy you have a home to go to.

Do not try and become friends and help the inmates. It’s a lose-win proposition and often will lead to your broken heart as you feel taken advantage of and the inmate is the only one that prospers from the relationship. Be strong in your rules, count everything and then count it again.

I was told not to tell the women anything about myself. That’s hard but very important so they can’t locate you on the outside. If you are given a piece of equipment like a radio, be sure you know how to use it. Stand your ground if you feel you are “right” or haven’t done what you are accused of, or at least defend yourself. And finally, be sure someone has the key to let you out at the end of the day.

7. Did you ever feel like you were in danger?

No, absolutely not. There were times when someone would have an attitude and mouth off to me, but I had the power to remove them from class, by calling for a deputy. The radio was always nearby, and the room was small so I could get to it. There was also the fabric room that I could have locked myself into, but I never had to. I also was not shy in telling someone to go sit by the door and wait for the deputy to come get them.

I knew the other women in the class would have never let anything happen to me. If there would have ever been anything physical, they would have stepped in until a deputy got there.

8. What would you change about the jail system, including the ICE detainees whose stories and situations you elaborate on in the book?

I could go on and on about this. First, they do not belong in a jail, treated the same as someone who say, has murdered someone. It is my belief that they could have an ankle bracelet on and kept track of in a more humane way. For the farm workers who are here to pick the fruit, the farmer who employs them should be helping them become a citizen or get the correct paperwork so they can’t be picked up, put in jail and then deported.

Their hearings should be speedy. They should not spend months in jail waiting for a court date. Their cases seldom have any circumstance that changes from when they are picked up to when they are deported unless they can prove domestic abuse.

There should be interpreters for them, and they should be given a lawyer with experience regarding immigration. The system is flawed and has gotten worse since I was at the jail with the children being separated from their parents at the border.  That is cruel to the children who are brought here by their parents for a “better life.” I wonder what they think when they are pulled from their mother’s arms and put in a cage to then sleep on the floor?

Helping immigrants to become tax paying citizens is a much better way to help them and our nation. Making them hide, run from the police often leading to other crimes is just creating more havoc in the judicial system and our nation.

9. What do you want readers to take away from your experiences?

I’m hoping that people will understand that first, volunteering is a very worthwhile experience in any situation.

Second, even though people have made bad decisions and committed crimes, they are still human beings and deserve some warmth and caring in their lives.

Third, that one person cannot do it all, as they say, “It takes a village.” Not just to raise our young but to support adults who have fallen onto hard times and may have children with them. Education is the only way people can learn to help themselves as well as help others.

Homelessness is becoming a disease of the twenty-first century, although it has been going on for years. It needs to be addressed and individuals given some options other than sleeping in their car with their kids.

10. What’s next for you? Do you have plans to write any other books?

I am just finishing up another book right now. I hope to be done by September, 2021. A Caregiver’s Love Story and Reference Manual. This is the story of my husband’s long terminal illness and his many hospital stays and diagnosis. I include a lesson with each chapter and there are many references for getting help with loneliness, grief, cognitive decline, when to call an ambulance, hiring help, aging, and burial for example.

I tell Bill’s story and how I coped and cared for him. I love doing research, and this helped me cope and learn while I took care of him. I’m a Registered Nurse. I learned how to care for people many years ago, but when it is your spouse, and you are the only caregiver 24/7 it helps to have a reference guide with all the information you need handy.

I hope the book provides it for other caregivers. I learned to make his life, as well as mine easier which is what prompted me to write the book. Again, it’s storytelling, but with everyday guidance to care for a loved one who you may be responsible for.

Buy it!

Buy a copy of Jail Journal here, and help support local bookstores! This is an affiliate link, and I will earn a commission on any sales.

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