Online Content: Not Available / Subject: Prisons - Philadelphia Area Archives Search Results

Extent:: 0.83 linear feet
Abstract:: The James A. Michener Art Museum, located in Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is an independent, non-profit cultural institution dedicated to preserving, interpreting, and exhibiting the art and cultural heritage of the Bucks County region. Opened in 1988, the museum is named for Doylestown's most famous son, the Pulitzer-Prize winning writer James A. Michener. James A. Michener Art Museum Archives oral history project records, 1980s-2015, consist of audio, audiovisual, and textual materials from an ongoing project whose purpose is to collect interviews with individuals with links to the old Bucks County prison (Doylestown, Pennsylvania), the surrounding area, and/or James A. Michener Art Museum.

Held at: James A. Michener Art Museum Archives [Contact Us]

Extent:: 0.8 linear feet (2 boxes)
Abstract:: The Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons (later the Pennsylvania Prison Society) was formed in 1787 to correct the issues of the city jail where prisoners were held together with little to no regard for age, gender, or nature of crime. This collection includes the Society's administrative records, case reports, and visiting reports.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

Extent:: 31.0 linear feet
Abstract:: When it opened in 1829, the State Penitentiary for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ("Eastern State Penitentiary") was the world's first true "penitentiary" in the sense that it was designed to inspire true feelings of penitence in the hearts of inmates. Initially characterized by its system of strict isolation and grand architecture, more than 300 prisons on five continents were modeled after Eastern State Penitentiary. Over 142 years of operation, the system of isolation was gradually abandoned and the penitentiary became a traditional modern prison; in 1971, the facility was closed. The State Penitentiary for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania records, circa 1830-1970, is comprised of various fragmentary records of the "Eastern State Penitentiary" that were either found on-site after the prison was closed, or donated by various individuals with connections to the prison. There are records relating to the operations and administration of the prison as a whole, as well as...(see more)

Held at: Eastern State Penitentiary [Contact Us]

Extent:: 11.1 linear feet
Abstract:: William G. Nagel (1917-2009) was president of the American Foundation in Philadelphia from 1969 until his retirement in 1983. Now known as the Bok Tower Gardens Foundation, the entity operated a research group on prisons known as the Institute of Corrections, of which Mr. Nagel was director. The Institute conducted national studies that resulted in Nagel's 1973 work The New Red Barn: A Critical Look at the Modern American Prison.

Held at: Eastern State Penitentiary [Contact Us]

Extent:: 1.0 linear feet
Abstract:: The Bucks County Prison was built in 1885 on Pine Street in Doylestown, Pennsylvania to relieve overcrowding at the county jail and was used for a century. James A. Michener Art Museum Archives collection of Bucks County Prison photographs and ephemera, 1880-1987, consists of photographs of the Bucks County Prison while it was in use and after it was abandoned, photographs of prison warden John Case and his family, and other materials. A majority of the photographs are facsimiles.

Held at: James A. Michener Art Museum Archives [Contact Us]

Extent:: 5.0 linear feet
Abstract:: When it opened in 1829, the State Penitentiary for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ("Eastern State Penitentiary") was the world's first true "penitentiary" in the sense that it was designed to inspire true feelings of penitence in the hearts of inmates. Initially characterized by its system of strict isolation and grand architecture, more than 300 prisons on five continents were modeled after Eastern State Penitentiary. Over 142 years of operation, the system of isolation was gradually abandoned and the penitentiary became a traditional modern prison; in 1971, the facility was closed. The Eastern State Penitentiary oral history project, 1993-2012, consists of about 130 oral history interviews with former inmates, employees of the State Penitentiary for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ("Eastern State Penitentiary"), family members of employees, and volunteers such as Chaplains.

Held at: Eastern State Penitentiary [Contact Us]

Extent:: 0.2 linear feet (1 volume and 1 folder)
Abstract:: This scrapbook of newspaper clippings relating to prison reform dates from the mid 19th century. Clippings address the treatment of the insane in prison, prison disciplinary systems, case studies and reports on various prisons, primarily in Pennsylvania and New York. It also contains extensive material on the Eastern State Penitentiary.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

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