I first met these women in 2010 in the basement archives of the Colorado Museum of Prisons. Their faces tugged at my heart and imagination, as I carefully scanned the fragile intake sheets bound into thick bulky ledgers.

      Each intake sheet detailed the facts of their incarceration - name, age, crime, location, parents, spouse, occupation, literacy, drug use, length of imprisonment, and release.

      All of it fascinating reading. What stuck with me however, were their faces and dresses and hats. They looked like "normal" women, not like criminals. I realized that they were someone's mother, sister, cousin, neighbor. They were real women with real stories.

     After I developed my presentation of the same name, I delved even deeper. I found some of these women on census records, in newspaper articles, court records. As women, most of them had disappeared from public records.

      In time, I began writing fiction stories about possibilities, envisioning them as whole women, not just about the worst thing they had ever done. Or maybe they didn't even commit the crime. I'll never know their truths but I can honor their lives by telling their imagined stories and restoring their dignity as women, 

     FORGOTTEN FEMALE FELONS  was published

June 22, 2025. The Book Launch was hosted by the Museum of Colorado Prisons. 

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FORGOTTEN FEMALE FELONS, the Unpublished Historical Fiction Book, won third place in May 2025 from Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc.

"Catherine" a story from the book, was award 1st Honorable Mention in the 2025 Short Story category from Oklahoma Writer's Federation.

"Mayfield" a short story from the book won Third Place in the LAURA  Short Fiction contest from Women Writing the West. 

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"Stuart has masterfully blended real-life stories with wit, compassion and empathy.These women were  early prison inmates from all walks of life. Stuart brought their stories to life in her colorful style."

Linda Womack, award-wining author and 2023 Colorado Author's Hall of Fame Inductee.

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"Based on real women with real tragedies in their lives, these poignant stories can rip your heart out and give you hope. Either way, it's a delight to follow them on their journeys."

Karima Diane Alavi, Author.

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    FORGOTTEN FEMALE FELONS is a book of short fiction stories about the early women incarcerated in the Territorial, then Colorado State Prison, from roughly 1872 to the early 1900s. The bones of the stories are based on facts, then woven with elements of history, culture, and human nature, specifically female.

​     This is a unique book about an overlooked piece of the American west. These women’s stories are just as valid, real, and interesting as the explorers, soldiers, and cowboys.

     All of us have thoughts and acts we keep secret, and the female felons are no different. How many of them played over and over in their minds the choices they had made, wishing for a second chance? These women are part of the tapestry of life that we all are part of, the darker rougher side that we learn from vicariously. 

​​      “I have hope that each female felon left prison determined to put her prison experience behind her and be welcomed home by her family and friends. I also believe that by explaining the social and cultural context of the times in which these women lived, that the reader will have a better understanding of their experiences. I hope I have managed, in some small way, to restore the dignity and worth of these women.”

Sherry Skye Stuart

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"The stories are heartbreaking but the subject matter is so timely right now. Even if you;re not interested in history, read this book. I guarantee you'll find it inspiring."

Vicki Felmlee, award-winning author of "Autumn" and "The Silver Moon Stallion."​​​