Norfolk Prison Colony Collection 1932-1934

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Norfolk Prison Colony Collection 1932-1934

http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/umass/mums074.html

In the late 1920s, the sociologist and prisoner reformer Howard Belding Gill proposed building a "model community prison" at Norfolk, Mass., that would represent a radical new approach to dealing with crime and punishment. Integrating social work and sociological theory into the workings of the prison system, Gill reasoned that it would be possible to diagnose and treat the root problems that led to crime and redirect inmates toward constructive behaviors. Built by inmates themselves, the prison opened in 1932, but with opponents decrying the experiment as a "country club" that coddled prisoners, Gill was forced from the superintendency within just two years. The collection consists of several drafts of a manuscript by a supporter of Gill's, Thomas O'Connor, that was intended for publication in magazine, along with associated correspondence and photographs. Although editor, Arthur Kellogg, was sympathetic enough to pass through several drafts and seek opinions widely, the manuscript appears to have been rejected so as not to cause the governor undue political problems. The Survey The Survey's

1 box; (0.25 linear feet)

eng,

Special Collections and University Archives, UMass Amherst Libraries

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SNAC Resource ID: 6323352

Related Entities

There are 7 Entities related to this resource.

Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Norfolk

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mm0npf (corporateBody)

St 1927, c 289 established the State Prison Colony, to which the commissioner of correction could transfer inmates of the State Prison. Construction using such inmates began at Norfolk in 1927 and was completed in 1931. St 1931, c 204 authorized tranfer there of inmates from the Massachusetts Reformatory, the State Farm, and county jails and houses of correction. St 1953, c 591 provided that on completion of new buildings at Norfolk and at Walpole, such institutions woul...

Gill, Howard B.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6417m0h (person)

Developed the experiment undertaken at the Massachusetts Dept. of Corrections state prison colony at Norfolk and served as superintendent there. From the description of Correspondence with Johan Thorsten Sellin, 1920-1958. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 236170452 ...

Wilkins, Raymond S.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6t02pvh (person)

Kellogg, Arthur

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6p437vn (person)

Wheeler, Truman

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64s44m7 (person)

Howard B. Gill and daughter Joan at State House hearings on Norfolk Prison Colony In the late 1920s, the sociologist and prisoner reformer Howard Belding Gill proposed building a "model community prison" at Norfolk, Mass., that would represent a radical new approach to dealing with the issues of crime and punishment. A noted efficiency expert who had been educated at Harvard and Harvard Business School, Gill was working on a study of prison industries for the federal go...

Parsons, Herbert Collins, 1862-1941

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6km10hd (person)

O'Connor, Thomas (Thomas G.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6b941kk (person)