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State Senator John A. Kissel toured
the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Wednesday,
July 22, 2009 after speaking at the National Conference
of State Legislatures’ (NCSL) Cost Cutting in
Corrections forum. Sen. Kissel, who has six prisons
in his district, housing over 8,000 inmates, welcomed
the opportunity to tour the world’s first penitentiary.
“This was by far one of the most impressive historical
sites I’ve ever seen”, said Sen.
Kissel. “The look of the building alone
is overwhelming, never mind actually walking through
the halls that were home to prisoners for nearly 150
years. It was a great opportunity for me to learn about
the history of institutionalizing criminals.”
The first prisoner was admitted to Eastern State in
October of 1829 and the institution served as a fully
functioning prison until 1971. The penitentiary housed
Al Capone from 1929-1930, though he was treated better
than other prisoners and given a radio and table lamp
(picture attached). After time, like so many prisons,
Eastern became over crowded in the 1920s and 30s, but
only a minimal number of escapes occurred in those two
decades.
“Not only was this institution groundbreaking
in regards to corrections, the new technology needed
to keep prisoners locked up inside played a huge  role
in many of the innovations we take for granted every
day,” said Sen. Kissel. “Engineers
had to design indoor toilets at a time when no one had
indoor toilets, which required running water. Each cell
was also equipped with a skylight, which were virtually
unheard of at the time. As a person very interested
in history, I was fascinated by not only the sight of
this building, built to look like a castle in order
to keep people away, but the rich history contained
inside.”
“One of the main features of the penitentiary
was a philosophy that prisoners should be kept silent
as to create a truly ‘penitent’ criminal.
The silence drove some early prisoners crazy, but like
all things, the corrections philosophy of that day evolved
in to what we have today,” said Sen. Kissel.
“Seeing how far we’ve come in the last 150
years, I have great hope for the future of correctional
systems and their ability to impact society.”
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