Eastern State Penitentiary
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Eastern State Penitentiary is located at the corner of Fairmount Avenue and 22nd Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, five blocks northeast of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It opened in 1829. The penitentiary was originally based on the idea of the Pennsylvania System, which encouraged solitary confinement as a form of rehabilitation. It was opposed contemporaneously by the New York System, which held that prisoners should be forced to work together in silence, and could be subjected to physical punishment. (Sing Sing prison was an examplar of the New York system).
Eastern State was viewed as a progressive reform in that it eliminated many of the excesses of physical punishment in colonial America. Despite this, it was widely believed (then and now) to have caused significant mental illness among its prisoners due to its solitary confinement. The system eventually collapsed due to overcrowding problems and the prison used a more conventional style of incarceration until it closed in 1970.
The prison was one of the largest public-works projects of the early republic, and was a tourist destination in the 19th century. Notable visitors included Charles Dickens and Alexis de Tocqueville while notable inmates included Willie Sutton and Al Capone.
Eastern State is currently open as an historic site, but closed in the winter.
External links
- Eastern State Penitentiary (http://www.easternstate.org/)
Initially, the Eastern State Penitentiary was as the name indicates a place for penitence. New inmates entered the prison wearing a bag over their heads so as not to be recognized by other prisoners. They were then placed in isolation, which they never left as each cell had its very own exercise yard. Their only past time was reading the Bible provided in each cell. Essentially, during their stay at the Penitentiary, inmates never saw anyone other than the wardens.
Later however, as the prison began to admit increasingly more prisoners, the isolation system ceased to function and prisoners were allowed to see other inmates and leave their individual cells.
The prison was well known for its medical wing. The nearby University of Pennsylvania Medical School often visited the wing to "practice" plastic surgery and other procedures on the prisoners.
In 1945, a major prison escape was carried out as a few prisoners, including the infamous Willie Sutton, dug a tunnel under one of the cells and then under the prison wall to freedom. All of them escaped never to be heard of again.
After being abandoned in 1971, the prison was left uncared for. The City of Philadelphia had plans to demolish the penitentiary and turn it into luxury apartments. The Historical Society stepped in however, deeming it a historical site, and thereby saving it.
Today, the Eastern State Penitentiary hold events such as Bastille Day, to commemorate the famous night of the French Revolution as well as a special Halloween Haunted House visit. It is currently under restoration.