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This Issue 10/30/2008

• Pigging Out
• Recipe of the Week: Going Greek
• The Breakdown: Bro-Shake

Pennsylvania miscreants of the 18th century could expect to serve out their sentences in overcrowded, disease-ridden prisons, typically awaiting either public humiliation or public execution. But out of such abhorrent conditions came the birth of one of Philadelphia’s most notorious landmarks.

The Eastern State Penitentiary stands forebodingly near the corner of Fairmount and 22nd Streets. The castle-like structure, built in the early 19th century, was innovative in its time for both its architectural design and its emphasis on prisoner reform and rehabilitation. While today most Penn students know the prison as a must-see Halloween attraction, 100 years ago it was a first-of-its-kind experiment in criminal justice.

Like much of Philadelphia history, the story of Eastern State began with Ben Franklin, as visitors who take a guided tour of the premises will quickly learn. Enlightened thinkers, including the city’s favorite forefather, turned their attention towards creating a justice system that would not simply punish criminals, but also rehabilitate them. According to Eric Schneider, a former history professor and current Associate Director for Academic Affairs for the College, Quakers in the Mid-Atlantic states (and especially those in Philadelphia) were at the forefront of this movement.

In 1787, a group of prominent Philadelphians started to convene in Franklin’s home, calling themselves the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons. Schneider explained that among the Quaker ideals that influenced them was the belief that human beings possess an inner light that enables them to repent and change their ways. Accordingly, group members wanted to develop a prison system that allowed for spiritual reform. And so the Society proposed a radical answer: solitary confinement. Members believed that solitude would turn prisoners’ thoughts inward upon themselves and inspire penitence — contact with other prisoners, guards or visitors would only distract them from spiritual reflection. In fact, this central aim of inspiring penitence is the derivation of the word “penitentiary.”