The Eastern State Penitentiary

The Eastern State Penitentiary was the first of its kind. Opening on October 25th, 1829, the penitentiary introduced a new system of incarceration known as the “Pennsylvania System” or “Separate System”. According to this new form, inmates lived in solitary confinement, with the exception of receiving daily visits from the warden. It was believed that environment dictated behavior. Therefore, it was thought that if inmates were confined to a single cell, with limited interaction with others, they would change their ways and become penitent for their actions. Many precautions where taken to keep the prisoners in solitude, some included keeping masks on all the inmates along with feeding doors on their cells and even their own exercise gardens. Whatever was needed to have the least amount of contact.

The Eastern State Penitentiary held many criminals; none more famous then Alphonse “Scarface” Capone. Al Capone served eight months at Eastern State in 1929-1930. He was arrested outside a movie theater for carrying a concealed, unlicensed .38 caliber revolver. The Philadelphia courts gave him the maximum sentence of one year in prison. Capone lived what many other prisoners would consider a luxurious stay while in prison. Al Capone had fine furniture, oriental rugs, oil paintings and a fancy radio all in his cell.

The Penitentiary was seen as a marvel for many other institutions, with extraordinary architectural systems like heated cells, state of the art plumbing and sewage systems. The Prison is thought of as a model, which was used throughout the world. But many people such a Charles Dickens who made visits to the prison believed that the prisoners where being treated very cruelly and that it was “strict and hopeless solitary confinement…”

In 1945, Pennsylvania legislature recommends abandoning Eastern State Penitentiary and with one of the largest riots happening in 1961, plans to close the institution begin. In 1970 the building is closed and since then there have been many ideas for the large abandon historic building now owned by the City of Philadelphia. Today one of its most popular uses occurs every year during the fall as their haunted ghost tours. The Penitentiary also sees more than 10,000 visitors years for its historical tours and you may have also seen its use in the 1995 movie 12 Monkeys with Brad Pitt.

Blog created by Karen Montross and Michael Chamberlain

and Group 1 Historical Philadelphia

Works Cited:

"History Timeline." Eastern State Penitentiary. Ed. Francis X. Dolan.

Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Inc., 2007.

Web. 20 Feb. 2010. http://www.easternstate.org