FCI Danbury is a low-security federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, that has been operating since August 1940, making it one of the older institutions in the federal system. In its early years it held a mix of male and female inmates, including several conscientious objectors during World War II who refused military service on moral grounds. Its population shifted over the decades: in 1993, as the Northeast faced a shortage of space for female offenders, Danbury was converted into an all-women's facility, a role it held for two decades. In 2013 the main institution switched back to housing male inmates, while women continued to be held at an adjacent satellite camp and low-security unit on the same grounds. The facility gained wider public recognition after author Piper Kerman wrote about her time there, which later inspired a popular television series, and after businesswoman Martha Stewart served part of her sentence at the camp. Today the main facility and camp together hold roughly a thousand inmates. For families, it's worth knowing Danbury has functioned under several different missions over its 80-plus year history, which shapes some of its programming and housing setup.