The Missouri State Penitentiary

The Missouri State Penitentiary PDF Author: Jamie Pamela Rasmussen
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
ISBN: 0826272878
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 137

Get Book Here

Book Description
Asked how the Missouri State Penitentiary compared to other famous prisons, a historian and former prison administrator replied, “ It’s older and meaner.” For 168 years, it was everything other prisons were and more. In The Missouri State Penitentiary, Jamie Pamela Rasmussen recounts the long and fascinating history of the place, focusing on the stories of inmates and the struggles by prison officials to provide opportunities for reform while keeping costs down. Tales of prominent prisoners, including Pretty Boy Floyd, Sonny Liston, and James Earl Ray, provide intrigue and insight into the institution’s infamous reputation. The founding of the penitentiary helped solidify Jefferson City’s position as the state capital. A highlight in the chapter on the Civil War years is the story of George Thompson, who was imprisoned for attempting to help a number of slaves to freedom. The narrative enters the twentieth century with the controversy surrounding the various systems of inmate labor; the effort to make the prison self-supporting eventually caused punishment to be driven by factory needs. The example of Firebug Johnson demonstrates how inmates reacted to the prison labor system while Kate Richards O’Hare’s struggles and efforts to improve conditions in the penitentiary illuminate the role of women in the system at the time. A full chapter is devoted to the riot of 1954, and another concentrates on the reforms made in the wake of that catastrophe. Rasmussen also considers the effect inmate lawsuits during the 1980s and 1990s had on prison life before telling the story of the decision to close the prison. The Missouri State Penitentiary provides a fitting account of an institution that was part of Missouri’s history for well over a century. Numerous illustrations and a list of recommended reading contribute to the readers’ understanding of the history of the institution.

The Missouri State Penitentiary

The Missouri State Penitentiary PDF Author: Jamie Pamela Rasmussen
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
ISBN: 0826272878
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 137

Get Book Here

Book Description
Asked how the Missouri State Penitentiary compared to other famous prisons, a historian and former prison administrator replied, “ It’s older and meaner.” For 168 years, it was everything other prisons were and more. In The Missouri State Penitentiary, Jamie Pamela Rasmussen recounts the long and fascinating history of the place, focusing on the stories of inmates and the struggles by prison officials to provide opportunities for reform while keeping costs down. Tales of prominent prisoners, including Pretty Boy Floyd, Sonny Liston, and James Earl Ray, provide intrigue and insight into the institution’s infamous reputation. The founding of the penitentiary helped solidify Jefferson City’s position as the state capital. A highlight in the chapter on the Civil War years is the story of George Thompson, who was imprisoned for attempting to help a number of slaves to freedom. The narrative enters the twentieth century with the controversy surrounding the various systems of inmate labor; the effort to make the prison self-supporting eventually caused punishment to be driven by factory needs. The example of Firebug Johnson demonstrates how inmates reacted to the prison labor system while Kate Richards O’Hare’s struggles and efforts to improve conditions in the penitentiary illuminate the role of women in the system at the time. A full chapter is devoted to the riot of 1954, and another concentrates on the reforms made in the wake of that catastrophe. Rasmussen also considers the effect inmate lawsuits during the 1980s and 1990s had on prison life before telling the story of the decision to close the prison. The Missouri State Penitentiary provides a fitting account of an institution that was part of Missouri’s history for well over a century. Numerous illustrations and a list of recommended reading contribute to the readers’ understanding of the history of the institution.

Missouri State Penitentiary

Missouri State Penitentiary PDF Author: Arnold G. Parks
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 0738590800
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 130

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Missouri State Penetentiary was established in 1833 via a bill passed by the state legislature and closed on September 15, 2004. It was considered one of the largest maximum-security penal institution in the United States. The penitentiary had the distinction of housing some very famous individuals: boxing champion Sonny Liston, infamous gangster Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd, and James Earl Ray. The history of the facility is seen through images mostly taken from the holdings of the Missouri State Archives.

Unguarded Moments

Unguarded Moments PDF Author: Larry Edmund Neal
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781612481104
Category : Prisoners
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this memoir about life in the Missouri State Penitentiary by a worker who was neither a prisoner nor a guard, Larry E. Neal reveals a portrait of prison life very different from common conceptions. Unguarded Moments gives readers a window into the rhythms of daily life inside and the shared humanity of everyone behind the walls.

Shanks to Shakers

Shanks to Shakers PDF Author: Mark S. Schreiber
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780615503783
Category : Correctional institutions
Languages : en
Pages : 160

Get Book Here

Book Description


Virginia State Penitentiary: A Notorious History

Virginia State Penitentiary: A Notorious History PDF Author: Dale M. Brumfield
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1467137634
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book Here

Book Description
Thomas Jefferson developed the idea for the Virginia State Penitentiary and set the standard for the future of the American prison system. Designed by U.S. Capitol and White House architect Benjamin Latrobe, the "Pen" opened its doors in 1800. Vice President Aaron Burr was incarcerated there in 1807 as he awaited trial for treason. The prison endured severe overcrowding, three fires, an earthquake and numerous riots. More than 240 prisoners were executed there by electric chair. At one time, the ACLU called it the "most shameful prison in America." The institution was plagued by racial injustice, eugenics experiments and the presence of children imprisoned among adults. Join author Dale Brumfield as he charts the 190-year history of the iconic prison.

Tennessee State Penitentiary

Tennessee State Penitentiary PDF Author: Yoshie Lewis
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 143964781X
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 128

Get Book Here

Book Description
As Tennessee grew into a modern state, it found itself increasingly beset by crime. In 1831, the legislature approved the construction of the first penitentiary. The pen world was violent and dark, with several major riots, fires, and escape attempts throughout the years. However, the prison also gave birth to a culture of creativity born from despair, with entertainment shows often featuring the biggest names in country music sharing the stage with inmate bands. The best-known pen, the Castle, has become a familiar icon to filmgoers, being used in productions like The Last Castle and The Green Mile. Today, the building sits abandoned, facing an uncertain future.

Runaway and Freed Missouri Slaves and Those Who Helped Them, 1763-1865

Runaway and Freed Missouri Slaves and Those Who Helped Them, 1763-1865 PDF Author: Harriet C. Frazier
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 9780786418299
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Get Book Here

Book Description
From the beginning of French rule of Missouri in 1720 through this state's abolition of slavery in 1865, liberty was always the goal of the vast majority of its enslaved people. The presence in eastern Kansas of a host of abolitionists from New England made slaveholding risky business. Many religiously devout persons were imprisoned in Missouri for "slave stealing." Based largely on old newspapers, prison records, pardon papers, and other archival materials, this book is an account of the legal and physical obstacles that slaves faced in their quest for freedom and of the consequences suffered by persons who tried to help them. Attitudes of both slave holders and abolitionists are examined, as is the institution's protection in both the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution. The book discusses the experiences of particular individuals and examines the Underground Railroad on Missouri's borders. Appendices provide details from two Spanish colonial census reports, a list of abolitionist prison inmates with details about their time served, and the percentages of African Americans still in bondage in 16 jurisdictions from 1820 to 1860.

Concrete Mama

Concrete Mama PDF Author: John A. McCoy
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN: 0295743999
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Get Book Here

Book Description
Journalists John McCoy and Ethan Hoffman spent four months inside the walls of the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla in 1978, just as Washington, once a leader in prison reform, abandoned its focus on reform and rehabilitation and returned to cell time and punishment. It was a brutal transition. McCoy and Hoffman roamed the maximum-security compound almost at will, observing and befriending prisoners and guards. The result is a striking depiction of a community in which there was little to do, much to fear, and a culture that both mimicked and scorned the outside world. McCoy’s unadorned prose and Hoffman’s stunning black-and-white photographs offer as authentic a portrayal of life in the Big House as “outsiders” are ever likely to experience. Originally published in 1981, Concrete Mama revealed a previously unseen stark and complex world of life on the inside, for which it won the Washington State Book Award. Long unavailable yet still relevant, it is revitalized in a second edition with an introduction by scholar Dan Berger that provides historical context for the book's ongoing resonance, along with several previously unpublished photographs.

In Prison

In Prison PDF Author: Kate Richards O'Hare
Publisher: New York, A. A. Knopf
ISBN:
Category : Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 234

Get Book Here

Book Description


Looking Outward

Looking Outward PDF Author: Robert Stroud
Publisher: Recipe Publishers
ISBN: 9780989813747
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 286

Get Book Here

Book Description
Stroud had received permission from the warden at Alcatraz to write a penal history, but bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., balked when they reviewed his manuscript. The top brass hastily created new rules for inmate authors, forbidding the publication of any inmate's work that was obscene, criticized the prison system, or glorified crime. Stroud was transferred in 1959 to the US Federal Medical Prison for chronically ill inmates in Springfield, Missouri, where he died in November, 1963. Martin, the Missouri attorney, was named administrator of Stroud's estate and gained custody of the manuscripts in lieu of compensation for his legal services. Martin tried to hawk the prison history manuscript to publishers, but they expressed little or no interest. "Some said it was too long. Others were afraid of being sued for libel because Stroud wrote about living people -- corrupt prison officials, sadistic guards and brutalized prisoners," Martin said. "Others said no one was interested in the prison system, or that history doesn't sell. Some of the great stories in literature are prison stories. I guess they hadn't read 'The Count of Monte Cristo' or 'The Gulag Archipelago, '" Martin said. Martin insists that Stroud's observations on the U.S. prison system are still relevant today. "I think it's a work of great social value. We're still trying to answer the questions that Stroud raised," he said. "The number of Americans incarcerated is greater than ever before. It costs a lot of money to incarcerate people. What do we get in return for it? Do we get a better person than what went in, or a worse person?"