Convicts, Trusties and Men: Expressions of Inmate Agency at the New Eastern State Penitentiary at Graterford, 1923-1935

Date
2014
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Producer
Director
Performer
Choreographer
Costume Designer
Music
Videographer
Lighting Designer
Set Designer
Crew Member
Funder
Rehearsal Director
Concert Coordinator
Moderator
Panelist
Alternative Title
Department
Haverford College. Department of History
Type
Thesis
Original Format
Running Time
File Format
Place of Publication
Date Span
Copyright Date
Award
Language
eng
Note
Table of Contents
Terms of Use
Rights Holder
Access Restrictions
Open Access
Tripod URL
Identifier
Abstract
This thesis examines the ways in which the inmate "voice" was represented, amplified, or controlled by prison officials, penal reformers and the press in eastern Pennsylvania from the early 1920s through the mid-1930s. In August 1934, 200 inmates rioted at the "New Eastern State Penitentiary" at Graterford, Pennsylvania, demanding time off their sentences for good behavior and better food. In this thesis I explore this riot through many of the voices involved in prison reform in eastern Pennsylvania as documented in newspapers, administrative records, and government reports. I consider this riot as a conscious, directed act of resistance that--while not tactically premeditated--was a means to a specific end sought by the rioters rather than a spontaneous outbreak as an inevitable consequence of poor social and environmental conditions of imprisonment. I analyze portrayals of and projections on inmates in these sources and construct a narrative of various representations of inmate agency and voice. Analyzing the rich array of sources discussing and responding to prisoner demonstrations and penal reform reveals the complexities of the perceptual and reactive dynamics between various officials and members of the incarcerated population.
Description
Citation
Collections