Exposition : « Prisonnières - Les dernières années de la prison Saint-Lazare (1919-1932) »

In the aftermath of the Great War, all Parisians knew the dark facade of the Saint-Lazare prison in the faubourg Saint-Denis. Behind the dilapidated walls of this former convent, people were punished and cared for. The only women's prison in Paris, it held up to more than a thousand inmates: detainees awaiting trial, women sentenced to short terms, prostitutes who violated regulations or were infected with syphilis. The latter were treated in the special infirmary, a veritable hospital-prison.

The fate of this institution, often compared to leprosy in the heart of the capital, was played out in the 1920s, marked by a repressive natalist policy and fear of the "venereal peril". In 1932, the prison closed before being partially demolished. The infirmary, initially transformed into a convalescent home for prostitutes, now houses the Médiathèque Françoise Sagan.

The exhibition aims to make visible and palpable this history, of which the current premises bear few traces. Through pictures, books, archives and objects from the collections of numerous institutions, the exhibition looks back at the prison's final years.

It begins with an outdoor trail in square Alban Satragne, where large-format photographs reveal the former prison in its urban surroundings. The journey continues inside the médiathèque, where the trail traces the final years of the prison, the varied perspectives on the female prisoners and what they reveal about the condition of women at the time, but also the faint traces they left behind themselves: writings, graffiti, imprints bearing witness to the lives of these shadows of history.

Exhibition across two sites: square Alban Satragne and the Médiathèque Françoise Sagan

This project was initiated by the association Histoire et vies du 10e, and supported by the Mairie du 10e arrondissement.

A programme of visits and activities is associated with the exhibition

Visits on the occasion of European Heritage Days

The show "Maison noire", spoken and sung reading by Cirque du Dr Paradi

A musical listening session on prison songs

A series of lectures, in partnership with the Comité d'Histoire de la Ville de Paris

A symposium organized by the Centre d'Histoire du XIXe siècle

; Credits : Bibliocité