Correctional Photograph Archives, 1895-1975 | Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives

By Rhonda Smith

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Collection Overview

Title: Correctional Photograph Archives, 1895-1975

Extent: 1.32 Cubic Feet

Date Acquired: 10/02/1984

Subjects: Corrections--Pictorial Works.

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The photographic collection is rich in its depiction of early twentieth century prison life and conditions. The collection covers numerous subjects such as prison living conditions, recreational activities, industries, hospital care, corporal punishment, work gangs on the farm and quarries, vocational activities, weapons confiscated, prison architecture, and the death house. A few of the images are of prison officials, primarily in the federal penitentiary system.

Collection Historical Note

The American Prison Society Photographic Archive records collection was acquired by through the efforts of Dr. Bruce Wolford of Eastern's College of Law Enforcement. Dr. Wolford received the photographs in 1979 from William Bain, instructor at the Kentucky Bureau of Training.

In the 1960s Mr. Bain, a former staff member of the American Correctional Association, conceived the idea of a pictorial history of the American prison. With the aid of David A. Kimberling, a prison inmate and photographer, Bain had photographs copied from the American Correctional Association archives plus ones he received from various federal and state correctional facilities throughout the United States. In addition to the copies, which comprise the negative part of the collection, he acquired many original black and white photographic prints. Finally in 1978 through the work of Anthony P. Travisono, executive director of the American Correctional Association, Bain's dream, The American Prison: from the Beginning. A Pictorial History, was published.

Subject/Index Terms

Corrections--Pictorial Works.

Administrative Information

Repository: Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives

Acquisition Source: American Prison Society (via Bruce Wolford)

Other Note: Photographs were initially numbered with the accession number; however, a decision was made to change to collection number. The database was changed, but the numbers written on the images were not changed.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Box:

[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Box 3],
[All]

Box 2

Barcode: 31234014110983

Folder 1: Industry

Item I1-1: Finished Stacks, Jute Mill (San Quentin)
Item I1-2: Empty Machine Shop with Wooden Floor
Item I1-3: Wood Shop (Prisoners Making Chairs and Cabinets)
Item I1-4: Machine Shop with Six Men Working
Item I1-5: Machine Shop with Skylight (Belgium)
Item I1-6: Wood Shop (Men Working with Lumber)
Item I1-7: Wood Shop (Men Making Guitars)
Item I1-8: Machine Shop (Young Men in Striped Overalls)
Item I1-9: Empty Machine Shop
Item I1-10: Mattress Shop
Item I1-11: Ten Men in Machine Shop (Federal Reformatory - Chillicothe, Ohio), 1 May 1944
Item I1-12: Granite Shop (Atlanta Federal Penitentiary)
Item I1-13: Chair Making Shop
Item I1-14: Men Leaning on Machines in Machine Shop
Item I1-15: Molasses Plant (Angola)
Item I1-16: Canning Plant (Angola)

Folder 2: Inside of Prisons

Item I2-1: Orientation in Prison
Item I2-2: Orientation in Prison
Item I2-3: Orientation in Prison
Item I2-4: Four New Men at Receiving Cell
Item I2-5: Four Men in the Shadows (Cell Corridor)
Item I2-6: Three New Men Preparing for Bath, 1938
Item I2-7: Barber Shop, 1938
Item I2-8: Men Dressing in Prison Clothing
Item I2-9: Two Men Signing Fingerprint Cards
Item I2-10: New Man Being Printed, 1938
Item I2-11: Black Men being Discharged, 1938
Item I2-12: Prisoner Recording Family History, 1938
Item I2-13: Prisoner Typing Record on New Man, 1938
Item I2-14: Penitentiary of Puerto Rico Photographer, 1933
Item I2-15: New Man Being Photographed, 1938
Item I2-16: New Man Being Photographed, 1938
Item I2-17: Prisoners Working in Cell House Corridor
Item I2-18: Two Men Playing Cards
Item I2-19: Lever Cage in Rotunda, 1938
Item I2-20: Dietary Department Delivering Food (City Prison, Manhattan)
Item I2-21: Dietary Department
Item I2-22: Prisoners Assembling Ration Books (San Quentin, 1943
Item I2-23: Cozy Cell (Beaks County Prison, Reading, Pennsylvania)
Item I2-24: Two Men with Headsets (San Quentin)
Item I-25: Two Men with Headsets (San Quentin)
Item I2-26: Padded Cell
Item I2-27: Latino Man in Cell (Penitentiary of Puerto Rico)
Item I2-28: Cell 1301
Item I2-29: Reception Room (Riker's Island)
Item I2-30: New Men Being Inoculated, 1938
Item I2-31: Examining Room
Item I2-32: Examining Room for Tuberculous Patients
Item I2-33: Examining Room for Tuberculous Patients
Item I2-34: New Prison Chapel (Eastham, Texas)
Item I2-35: New Prison Chapel (Eastham, Texas)
Item I2-36: Back of New Chapel (Eastham, Texas)
Item I2-37: Chapel with Organ (Male Department)
Item I2-38: Men Standing by Desk in Prison Hallway
Item I2-39: Men Standing by Desk in Prison Hallway
Item I2-40: Prisoner Making a Hooked Rug (Washington State Penitentiary)
Item I2-41: Prisoner Making a Hooked Rug (Washington State Penitentiary)
Item I2-42: Utility Corridor (County Jail)
Item I2-43: Dark Room with Black Posts

Folder 3: Kitchens

Item K1-1: Kitchen on Wheels
Item K1-2: Four Men in Typical Old Kitchen
Item K1-3: Kitchen (United States Penitentiary at Atlanta)

Folder 4: Prison Officials

Item O1-1: Phil Hedges (Association Superintendent of Treatment, Chillicothe, Ohio)
Item O1-2: Clinton P. Duffy, Warden (San Quentin)
Item O1-3: The Loyal Press Printing, Ralph B. Itterlson
Item O1-4: Guest Editorial "Probation vs. Jail" Charles L. Chute
Item O1-5: Prison's Administrator
Item O1-6: Convention for Prison Officials
Item O1-7: Convention for Prison Officials (Women and Men Pictured)
Item O1-8: Displays at Prison Convention (Man with Leather Crafts)
Item O1-9: Helen Hironimus, Warden (Federal Reformatory for Women, Seagoville, Texas)
Item O1-10: Two Unidentified Prison Officials
Item O1-11: Picture of Different Wardens
Item O1-12: Five Men from Federal Penitentiary Service
Item O1-13: Five Men from Federal Penitentiary Service
Item O1-14: Guards Walking Down Toward Front Tower, 1938
Item O1-15: Warden Sanders with Motorbike and Prisoners
Item O1-16: Superintendent L.E. Lawes and Warden Schleth on a Ship
Item O1-17: Major Lawes and his Boys Posing
Item O1-18: Major Lawes and Boys Candid
Item O1-19: Major Lawes' Boys Watching Passing Ship Tall River
Item O1-20: Major Lawes and Boys Saluting a Passing Steamer
Item O1-21: Major Lawes' Boys on Upper Deck of Ship
Item O1-22: Unidentified Ceremony
Item O1-23: Four Unidentified Men in a Car
Item O1-24: Four Unidentified Men in a Car
Item O1-25: Two Unidentified Men in a Car beside a Cornfield
Item O1-26: Unidentified Man with Uniformed Chauffeur
Item O1-27: Two Unidentified Men in a Car by a House
Item O1-28: Unidentified Couple in Car with Three Women on a Bench
Item O1-29: Unidentified Couple in Car with Three Women on a Bench
Item O1-30: Letter from President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Folder 5: Outsides of Prisons

Item O2-1: Federal Penitentiary (Lewisburg, Pennsylvania)
Item O2-2: Detroit House of Correction
Item O2-3: Maryland Penitentiary
Item O2-4: Charleston State Prison, 1805
Item O2-5: Attica Prison
Item O2-6: Brushy Mountain Prison (Tennessee)
Item O2-7: Indiana State Prison
Item O2-8: Construction Camp, 1916
Item O2-9: United States Penitentiary (Terra Haute, Indiana)
Item O2-10: California State Prison (San Quentin), 1920
Item O2-11: New Hampshire State Prison
Item O2-12: New Hospital Building (New Hampshire State Prison)
Item O2-13: Berks County Prison (Reading, Pennsylvania)
Item O2-14: Baltimore Maryland Penitentiary
Item O2-15: Woodcut of San Quentin Prison
Item O2-16: Unidentified Prison with Shrubs
Item O2-17: Unidentified Prison with Shrubs
Item O2-18: Massachusetts Reformatory, 1904
Item O2-19: Massachusetts Reformatory, 1878
Item O2-20: Right Wing and Warden's House (Vermont State Prison)
Item O2-21: Allegheny County Workhouse
Item O2-22: Federal Correctional Institution (Latuna, Texas)
Item O2-23: Aerial View of Federal Correctional Institution (Latuna, Texas)
Item O2-24: Aerial View of New Jersey State Prison
Item O2-25: Manard Illinois, 1957
Item O2-26: Aerial View of Minnesota State Prison
Item O2-27: Aerial View of Minnesota State Prison
Item O2-28: Aerial View of Cincinnati Workhouse, 1940
Item O2-29: North Carolina State Prison, 1942
Item O2-30: National Penitentiary, Cuba
Item O2-31: State Prison (Windsor, Vermont, 1900
Item O2-32: Ohio Penitentiary Insane Asylum
Item O2-33: Penitentiary (Blackwell Island)
Item O2-34: Workhouse (Blackwell Island)
Item O2-35: Penitentiary of Puerto Rico
Item O2-36: Nagasaki Prison (Back View)
Item O2-37: Cuba's Penitentiary
Item O2-38: Navy Correction Program
Item O2-39: Ohio State Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio), 1949
Item O2-40: Jeffersonville Penitentiary
Item O2-41: State Farm (Bridgewater, Massachusetts)
Item O2-42: Penitentiary for Males (Welfare Island), 1924
Item O2-43: City Prison (New York City)
Item O2-44: City Prison (New York City)
Item O2-45: Stateville (Illinois State Penitentiary) with Warden Joe S. Ragen
Item O2-46: United States Penitentiary (Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, 1932
Item O2-47: Japanese Prison, 18 Oct 1972
Item O2-48: Old Indiana State Penitentiary
Item O2-49: Old Indiana State Penitentiary
Item O2-50: Drawing of Unidentified Prison (Aerial View)
Item O2-51: Unidentified Prison with Tower (Aerial View)
Item O2-52: Drawing of Unidentified Prison With Civilians, 1926
Item O2-53: State Prison (New Eastham, Texas)
Item O2-54: Unidentified Prison with Reflecting Pool
Item O2-55: Model of Eastham Farm, Texas
Item O2-56: Unidentified Prison with Man on Steps
Item O2-57: Unidentified Prison with Smoke Stack and Flag
Item O2-58: Unidentified Prison with Dirt Mound (Aerial View)
Item O2-59: Unidentified Prison with Water and Ship (Aerial View)
Item O2-60: Unidentified Landlocked Prison (Aerial View)
Item O2-61: Side View of Unidentified Prison
Item O2-62: Unidentified Prison with High Grass
Item O2-63: Sketch (Charleston, Massachusetts Prison), 1894
Item O2-64: Unidentified City Prison in Downtown Area
Item O2-65: Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (Aerial View)
Item O2-66: Unidentified Prison Surrounded by Water on Three Sides
Item O2-67: Side View of Unidentified Prison with Five Spindly Trees
Item O2-68: Side View of Unidentified Prison with Smoke Stack
Item O2-69: Old Workhouse in New York (Built in 1857)
Item O2-70: Attica Under Construction, 1930
Item O2-71: Drawing of Unidentified Prison on Cliff
Item O2-72: Unidentified Tall Prison with Double Doors
Item O2-73: Side View of Unidentified Prison with Basement
Item O2-74: Side View of Unidentified Prison with Grassy Yard
Item O2-75: Federal Reformatory with Airplanes and Cars (Chillicothe, Ohio, 1944

Folder 6: Recreation

Item R1-1: Correctional Recreation Workshop
Item R1-2: Unidentified Man with Trumpet
Item R1-3: Football Game, 1938
Item R1-4: Talent Show, 1938
Item R1-5: Texas Juvenile Training School Band
Item R1-6: The Band
Item R1-7: Two Men Playing a Recreational Table Game
Item R1-8: Volleyball Game (Eastham, Texas), 1957
Item R1-9: Baseball Game
Item R1-10: Intramural Band (Maryland Penitentiary)
Item R1-11: Basketball Game (Jackson, Michigan Prison), 1937
Item R1-12: Marching Band
Item R1-13: Marching Band
Item R1-14: Orchestra, 1938
Item R1-15: Inmate Junior Basketball Team
Item R1-16: Baseball Game (The Bleachers)
Item R1-17: Baseball Game
Item R1-18: New York State Reformatory Baseball Team
Item R1-19: Football Game, 1938
Item R1-20: Self Defense Class
Item R1-21: Negro Reformatory Band, 1914
Item R1-22: Orchestra, 1938
Item R1-23: Football Game
Item R1-24: Gym with Goals and Net (Eastham, Texas), 1957
Item R1-25: Marching Band on Dirt Road
Item R1-26: Correctional Recreation Workshop
Item R1-27: Prison Band (Utah State Prison), 1938
Item R1-28: Texas State Juvenile Training School Band
Item R1-29: Track Meet (Men at the Starting Line)
Item R1-30: Track Meet (Runners Rounding the Bend)
Item R1-31: Track Meet (Down the Stretch)
Item R1-32: Bowling
Item R1-33: Bowling
Item R1-34: Baseball Team
Item R1-35: Football Game (Inmates VS Outsiders), 1938
Item R1-36: Marching Band Comes to Town
Item R1-37: Sports Spectators
Item R1-38: Baseball Game with Spectators
Item R1-39: Boxing Match Spectators, 1938
Item R1-40: Model Planes built by San Quentin Inmates (Probably for the War Effort - 1940s)
Item R1-41: Baseball Game (Stateville Illinois)
Item R1-42: Men Climbing Rope

Folder 7: Road Gangs

Item R2-1: Prisoners Constructing a Road
Item R2-2: Road Construction (State Highway)
Item R2-3: Digging a New Road (Utah State Prison), 1939
Item R2-4: Digging a New Road (Utah State Prison)

Folder 8: Rock Quaries

Item R3-1: Land Conservation
Item R3-2: Land Conservation
Item R3-3: Land Conservation
Item R3-4: Rock Removal with Wheelbarrows
Item R3-5: State Rock Quarry
Item R3-6: Stone Cutting (Missouri Intermediate Reformatory), 1939
Item R3-7: Rock Pile (Men in Stripes)
Item R3-8: Four Men at Rock Pile
Item R3-9: Stone Breaking
Item R3-10: Digging Rock
Item R3-11: Stone Crushing Plant
Item R3-12: Crushed Rock Department (New Hampshire State Prison)

Folder 9: Sing Sing

Item S1-1: Old Cell Blocks (In Use Since 1825)
Item S1-2: Visiting Room, 1940
Item S1-3: Visiting Room, 1941
Item S1-4: Visiting Room, 1939
Item S1-5: Outer Wall of Cell House
Item S1-6: Clothing Shop, 1898
Item S1-7: Cell Block with One Prisoner Standing
Item S1-8: Cell Block with One Prisoner Sitting
Item S1-9: Cell Corridor
Item S1-10: View of Old Cell Block
Item S1-11: Sing Sing Operating Room
Item S1-12: Sing Sing's Wall
Item S1-13: Sing Sing (Aerial View)
Item S1-14: Typical Cell at Sing Sing
Item S1-15: Old Cell Block with Prisoner and Guard
Item S1-16: Side View of Sing Sing, 1932
Item S1-17: Shop Buildings (East End View)
Item S1-18: Outer Wall of Cell House
Item S1-19: Clothing Department, 1898
Item S1-20: Cell House (West Side View)
Item S1-21: Wall Building
Item S1-22: Wall Cutting
Item S1-23: Sing Sing (Aerial View)
Item S1-24: Shop Buildings
Item S1-25: Cell House (Outer Wall)
Item S1-26: Toilet Buckets
Item S1-27: Unloading Coal Barges
Item S1-28: Unloading Coal Barges
Item S1-29: Old Cell Block, 5 Nov 1945
Item S1-30: Black Prisoner at Parole Board Meeting, 1972
Item S1-31: Poster Display
Item S1-32: Model and Poster Display

Folder 10: Toilets

Item T1-1: Sink and Toilet
Item T1-2: Buckets Used as Chamber Pots
Item T1-3: Four Toilets
Item T1-4: Four Toilets
Item T1-5: Sink and Toilet in Jail Cell (New Jersey State Prison)
Item T1-6: Shower Room (Angola)
Item T1-7: One Toilet in Cell (Indiana State Prison)
Item T1-8: One Clean Sink and Toilet (New Hampshire State Prison)
Item T1-9: Bucket Brigade, 1924
Item T1-10: Toilet Buckets
Item T1-11: Toilet Buckets

Folder 11: Transportation

Item T2-1: Prison Wagon
Item T2-2: Truck with Open Bed
Item T2-3: Truck with Closed Bed
Item T2-4: The Success - Prison Ship, 1907
Item T2-5: Prisoners Transferring Trains at Jersey City (Close Up View)
Item T2-6: Prisoners Transferring Trains at Jersey City (Long View)

Folder 12: Unidentified Houses and Buildings

Item U1-1: Administration Building (Meditation Rooms)
Item U1-2: Superintendent's Residence (Parchman, Mississippi)
Item U1-3: Barn and House with Two Men in a Field
Item U1-4: Three Boys Walking by Stone House
Item U1-5: Two Women on Porch of Large Brick House with Columns
Item U1-6: Mixed Crowd Outside a White House
Item U1-7: Building on City Street with Horses and Buggies
Item U1-8: Row of White Buildings with View of Water
Item U1-9: Log Structure

Folder 13: Unidentified People

Item U2-1: Prisoners Two by Two in Marching Order
Item U2-2: State Cadet Battalion on the March
Item U2-3: Black Youth as Newcomer and Parolee
Item U2-4: Black Youth as Newcomer and Parolee
Item U2-5: Confirmation Class - Men with Priests (Elmira)
Item U2-6: The Puppy Mascots
Item U2-7: Men and Boys at Car (Candid)
Item U2-8: Men and Boys at Car (Posed)
Item U2-9: Men and Boys at Car (Posed)
Item U2-10: New Men Being Received at Institution, 1938
Item U2-11: Officer Checking Gun in at Tower, 1938
Item U2-12: Prisoners Coming up Walk from Tower, 1938
Item U2-13: Prisoners Coming up Walk from Tower, 1938
Item U2-14: New Men Being Shaken Down at Front Door, 1938
Item U2-15: Deputy Sheriff Handing Commitment to Deputy Warden, 1938
Item U2-16: Unidentified Regiment Marching
Item U2-17: Armed Guards Beside Prison Administration Building (Oklahoma State Prison), 1938
Item U2-18: Armed Guards on Steps (Oklahoma State Prison)
Item U2-19: Prisoners in Stripes and New Grey Uniforms

Folder 14: Visitation

Item V1-1: Attorney General Francis Biddle Visiting Atlanta Penitentiary, 28 Jan 1942
Item V1-2: Women Visitors
Item V1-3: New Visiting Booths
Item V1-4: Visitors from the Congress of Correction, 1958
Item V1-5: Visitor with a Band

Folder 15: Vocational Classes

Item V2-1: Finishing Department at Shoe Factory
Item V2-2: Chair Making Shop
Item V2-3: Painter Class
Item V2-4: Upholstery Class, 31 Dec 1903
Item V2-5: Vocational Class (Men Reading)
Item V2-6: AMIDS Class, 1972
Item V2-7: Art Class
Item V2-8: Prison School (New Jersey State Prison)
Item V2-9: Drafting School
Item V2-10: Lettering Office
Item V2-11: Lettering Office
Item V2-12: Wood Working
Item V2-13: Boat Construction (Stateville, Illinois), 1957
Item V2-14: Hat Making (Penitentiary of Puerto Rico)
Item V2-15: Upholstery Class (Chairs Only)

Folder 16: Weapons

Item W1-1: Knives and Pipes
Item W1-2: Three Knives and Two Puncture Items
Item W1-3: Six Weapons Including Knives and Puncture Items
Item W1-4: Knives, One Gun, Puncture Items and Pipes

Browse by Box:

[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Box 3],
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