State Penitentiary for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania records circa 1830-1970

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State Penitentiary for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania records circa 1830-1970

http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/pacscl/ead.html?id=PACSCL_HSP_ESP01

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 inmate records relating to specific prisoners.

31.0 Linear feet

Eastern State Penitentiary

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SNAC Resource ID: 6328153

Related Entities

There are 2 Entities related to this resource.

Eastern State Penitentiary of Pennsylvania

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64b7wcv (corporateBody)

State penitentiary for the Eastern district of Pennsylvania

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6v46vfd (corporateBody)

The State Penitentiary for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is situated on 13 acres known as "Cherry Hill", two miles northwest of the Court House in Philadelphia, Pa. The Pennsylvania Legislature authorized its construction on March 20 1821. Construction begain on May 22 1823 and was completed in 1829. From the description of List of prisoner discharges and scrapbook, 1885-1890. (Historical Society of Pennsylvania). WorldCat record id: 151382914 The State P...