Prison Schools and the New Vision for Rehabilitation In
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“Protect Society and Salvage Men”: Prison Schools and the New Vision for Rehabilitation in New York State in the Progressive Era, 1905-1920 Antonia M. Smith Submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Under the Executive Committee Of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2020 © 2020 Antonia M. Smith All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT “Protect Society and Salvage Men”: Prison Schools and the New Vision for Rehabilitation in New York State in the Progressive Era, 1905-1920 Antonia M. Smith The establishment of schools in prisons was a remarkable innovation in the prison reform movement of the Progressive Era in New York State, and represented a high point of success in the new vision of prisoner rehabilitation. While prison schools provided some support in filling the occupational void in prisoner time after the abolition of the contract labor system in prisons, and some form of social control by incentivizing good behavior, the prison school idea was also a humanitarian endeavor. Schooling was provided without immediate economic benefit to the State through product or labor; it was provided merely for the good of incarcerated men. In this dissertation, I argue that the prison schools, the hiring of professional educators, and the classification of inmates were reforms that, when taken together, formed tangible steps towards organizational, systemic, and policy shifts in prisons that brought to life the goals and aspirations of the prison reformers of the 1870 Congress of the National Prison Association, who envisioned the prison as “one great school” where all aspects of prison life would be subservient to instruction. Thus, prison schools contributed to the new vision for prisoner rehabilitation in the Progressive Era. The prison school experiment in New York stood apart from other states in its commitment to hiring experienced and educated teachers, providing a competitive salary, offering separate and dedicated space for classrooms, and establishing a progressive curriculum of standards. Prison school standards formed an important part of the progressive classification system for prisoners, particularly those with indeterminate sentences, and established stages for rehabilitation and release from prison. This dissertation explored aspects of the prison schools that were formally established at Sing Sing, Auburn, Clinton, and Great Meadow prisons. This study also explored the political, economic, and social climate of the Progressive Era that created optimal conditions for the prison school experiment. This research places prison schools at the center of the rehabilitation idea for prisoners in the Progressive Era. This fundamental shift in thinking from considering prisoners as property of the state to human beings in need of care and treatment opened up pathways for new practice. This research draws the connection between the end of the contract labor system in prisons and the beginning of prison schools. While there are numerous studies on prison labor reform and the shift in reformers’ thinking about hard labor and rehabilitation, few studies have made this connection. This research presents examples of how the theories of prisoner rehabilitation were put into practice through the prison school experiment in New York State during the Progressive Era. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iii Chapter 1 – INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................1 Chapter 2 – BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT ..........................................................................17 Introduction ........................................................................................................................17 Background: Progressive Era and the Progressive Platform .............................................18 Prison Reform Movement ..................................................................................................24 Abolition of Prison Labor ..................................................................................................31 The New Penology .............................................................................................................37 Chapter 3 – CLASSICATION OF PRISONERS ..........................................................................43 Introduction ........................................................................................................................43 Progressive Ideas on the Causes of Criminality ................................................................46 Case History System ..........................................................................................................50 Progressive Classification System .....................................................................................55 Inmate Statistics .................................................................................................................58 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................60 Chapter 4 – PRISON SCHOOL STAKEHOLDERS IN NEW YORK .........................................61 Introduction ........................................................................................................................61 Laws Regarding General Education of Prisoners and Their Teachers ..............................62 Prison Reformers ...............................................................................................................64 Prison School Teachers ......................................................................................................72 Inmate Teachers .................................................................................................................79 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................82 i Chapter 5 – THE STRUCTURE OF NEW YORK PRISON SCHOOLS .....................................83 Early Prison Education ......................................................................................................84 The Elmira System .............................................................................................................87 Progressive Era Prison Schools .........................................................................................89 Features of Prison School System ......................................................................................90 Curriculum and Experience in the Classroom ...................................................................92 Prison Libraries ..................................................................................................................96 Vocation Education ..........................................................................................................104 Mutual Welfare Leagues ..................................................................................................104 Sports and Recreation ......................................................................................................107 Results from Prison School Efforts ..................................................................................108 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................111 Chapter 6 – CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................113 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................121 APPENDICES Appendix A – Declaration of Principles Adopted and Promulgated by the 1870 Congress of the National Prison Association ..................................................................................134 Appendix B – Course of Study at Sing Sing Prison School, 1907 ..............................................139 Appendix C – Timeline ................................................................................................................141 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am tremendously grateful to the community of scholars, archivists, family, and friends who supported me through the long process of completing this dissertation. The support, enthusiasm, and expertise of my dissertation committee pushed me to think more deeply about issues I had overlooked, and to make connections I did not see with my head down in research. It was a privilege to work with Professors Megan Laverty and Mary Mendenhall who provided very thoughtful and varied feedback. Professors Viola Huang and Fevronia Soumakis provided constant support, encouragement, and wonderful friendship, and I wouldn’t have finished without them. A very special thanks goes to my advisor, Professor Cally Waite, for her confidence and faith in my abilities. Professor Waite always demanded excellence and pushed me to think in new and different ways to ensure clarity in my writing. She was patient and understanding through my family joys of motherhood and my challenges of caring for aging parents that occasionally took me off course through the dissertation project. I’m thankful to have studied with her, and I consider her to be a teacher, mentor, and friend. I am grateful to the community of scholars who inspired me at Teachers