From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sing Sing
Sing Sing
Coordinates: 41°9′6″N 73°52′8″W / 41.15167°N Jesse D. Frost (1907–1911)
73.86889°W / 41.15167; -73.86889 John S. Kennedy (1911–1913)
Sing Sing Correctional Facility James Connaughton* (June 1913)
James M. Clancy (1913–1914)
Thomas McCormick (June 1914)
George Weed* (October 1914)
Thomas M. Osborne (1914–1915)
George W. Kirchwey (1915)
Thomas M. Osborne (July 1916)
Calvin Derrick (October 1916)
William H. Moyer (1916–1919)
Edward V. Brophy (April 1919)
Daniel J. Grant* (1919–1920)
Lewis E. Lawes (1920–1941)
Robert J. Kirby (1941–1944)
William F. Snyder (1944–1950)
Wilfred L. Denno (1950–1967)
Location Ossining, New York John T. Deegan (1967–1969)
James L. Casscles (1969–1972)
Status Active Theodore Schubin (1972–1975)
Joseph Higgins* (July 1975)
Security Maximum Harold Butler (October 1975)
class William G. Gard (1975–1977)
Walter Fogg* (August 1977)
Opened 1826 (Completed in 1828) Stephen Dalsheim (1977–1980)
Managed New York State Department of Correctional Wilson E.J. Walters (1980–1983)
by Services James E. Sullivan (1983–1988)
John P. Keane (1988–1997)
Director Wardens[1] Charles Greiner (1997–2000)
Elam Lynda (1825–1830) Brian S. Fischer (2000–2007)
Robert Wiltse (1830–1834) Louis Marshall (2007-)
David L. Seymour (1834–1843) * = Acting
William H. Peck (1843–1845)
Hiram P. Rowell (1845–1848) Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum security
Chauncey Smith (1848–1849)
prison[2] operated by the New York State Department of
Edward L. Potter (January, 1849)
Alfred R. Booth (July, 1849) Correctional Services in the town of Ossining, New York.
Munson J. Lockwood (1850–1855) It is located about 30 miles north of New York City on the
C. A. Batterman (1855–1856) bank of the Hudson River.
William Beardsley (1856–1862) Ossining’s former name, "Sing Sing," was derived
Gaylord B. Hubbell (1862-1864)
from the name of a Native American tribe, "Sinck Sinck"
Thomas E. Sutton (1864-1865)
Stephen H. Johnson (1865–1868) (or "Sint Sinck"), from whom the land was purchased in
David P. Forrest (1868–1869) 1685.[3]
Henry C. Nelson (1869–1870) The Sing Sing prison confines about 1,700 prison-
E. M. Russell (1870–1872) ers.[4] There are plans to convert the original 1825 cell
Henry C. Nelson (1872–1873)
Gaylord B. Hubbell (1873–1874)
block into a museum.[5]
James Williamson (September 1874)
Alfred Walker (October 1874)
George R. Youngs (1876–1877)
The facility
Charles Davis (February 1877) The prison property is bisected by railroad tracks. There
B. S. W. Clark (March 1877)
are four bridges over the tracks which connect the two
Charles Davis (1877–1880)
Augustus A. Brush (1880–1891) halves of Sing Sing Correctional Facility. The northern-
W.R. Brown (1891–1893) most bridge is a pedestrian crossing for employees which
Charles F. Durston (1893–1894) is outside the secure perimeter; this bridge is currently
Omar V. Sage (1894-1899) closed due to structural deficiencies. The next bridge
Addison Johnson (1899–1907)
southward contains utility lines such as steam pipes and
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sing Sing
electric lines. The 3rd bridge is a secure pedestrian bridge the state, and by October 1828 was finally completed.[7]
which can be used to move inmates from one side of the Lynds employed the Auburn system, which imposed ab-
prison to the other. The southernmost bridge is a vehicle solute silence on the prisoners; the system was enforced
bridge inside the secure perimeter, which allows mainte- by whipping and other brutal punishments.
nance vehicles, shuttle buses and delivery trucks to move
between sides without having to be re-inspected.[6] 20th century
History
Early years
Warden T. M. Osborne
Thomas Mott Osborne’s tenure as warden of Sing Sing
prison was brief but dramatic. Osborne arrived in 1914
with a reputation as a radical prison reformer. His report
State Prison at Sing Sing, New York, an 1855 engraving of a week-long incognito stay inside New York’s Auburn
Prison indicted traditional prison administration in mer-
Sing Sing was the third prison built by New York State. ciless detail.[12]
The first prison was built in 1797 in Greenwich Village Prisoners who had bribed officers and intimidated
and a second one in 1816 called Auburn State Prison.[7] other inmates lost their privileges under Osborne’s
In 1824 the New York Legislature gave Elam Lynds, regime. One of them conspired with powerful political al-
warden of Auburn Prison and a former Army captain, the lies to destroy Osborne’s reputation, even succeeding in
task of constructing a new, more modern prison. Lyn- getting him indicted for a variety of crimes and malad-
ds spent months researching possible locations for the ministration. After Osborne triumphed in court, his re-
prison, considering Staten Island, The Bronx, and Silver turn to Sing Sing was a cause for wild celebration by the
Mine Farm, an area in the town of Mount Pleasant, located inmates.[13][14]
on the banks of the Hudson River. Another notable warden was Lewis Lawes. He was of-
He also visited New Hampshire, where a prison was fered the position of warden in 1919, accepted in Jan-
successfully constructed by inmate labor, using stone uary 1920, and remained for 20 years as Sing Sing’s war-
that was available on-site. For this reason, by May, Lynds den. While warden, Lawes brought about reforms and
had finally decided on Mount Pleasant, located near a turned what was described as an "old hellhole" into a
small village in Westchester County with the unlikely modern prison with sports teams, educational programs,
name of Sing Sing. This appellation was derived from the new methods of discipline and more. Several new build-
Native American words "Sinck Sinck" which translates ings were also constructed during the years Lawes was
to "stone upon stone".[8] The legislature appropriated warden. Lawes retired in 1941 after 21 years as warden
$20,100 to purchase the 130-acre (0.53 km2) site, and the and died six years later. In 1943, the old cellblock was fi-
project received the official stamp of approval.[8] Lynds nally closed and the metal bars and doors were donated
hand-selected 100 inmates from his own private stock for to the war effort.[15][16] In 1989, the institution was ac-
transfer and had them transported by barge along the credited for the first time by the American Correctional
Erie Canal to freighters down the Hudson River. On their Association, which established a set of national standards
arrival on May 14, the site was "without a place to re- by which every correctional facility should be judged. [17]
ceive them or a wall to enclose them"; "temporary bar-
racks, a cook house, carpenter and blacksmith’s shops" 21st century
were rushed to completion.[9][10] Today Sing Sing houses more than 2,000 inmates, with
When it was opened in 1826,[11] Sing Sing was con- about 1,000 people working there and 5,000 visitors per
sidered a model prison, because it turned a profit for month. The original 1825 cellblock is no longer used and
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sing Sing
in 2002 plans were announced to turn this into a muse- to restore college education at Sing Sing through private
um.[18] In April 2011 there have been talks to close the funding.[26]
prison in favor of real estate.[19]
Museum
Executions Plans to turn part of Sing Sing into a museum go back to
For more details on this topic, see Capital punishment in 2005, when local officials sought to turn the old power
New York. house into the museum, linked by a tunnel to a retired
Four inmates under federal death sentences were exe- cell block, at a cost of $5.0 Million.[27] In 2007, the village
cuted at Sing Sing. On June 19, 1953, Julius and Ethel of Ossining applied for $12.5 Million in Federal money
Rosenberg were electrocuted for espionage. On August for the project, expected then to cost $14 Million.[28] The
12, 1952, Gerhard A. Puff was electrocuted for murder.[20] proposed museum will display the Sing Sing story unfold-
The last prisoner to be executed in the electric chair was ed over time.[29]
Eddie Lee Mays who was convicted of murder and execut-
ed on August 15, 1963. In 1972, the United States Supreme
Court ruled in Furman v. Georgia that the death penalty
Contribution to American Eng-
was unconstitutional and the chair was no longer used. lish vernacular
Altogether, 614 men and women were executed at Sing
The use of the expression "up the river" to mean "in
Sing. The electric chair was later moved to Greenhaven
prison" derives from the practice of sentencing people
Prison in working condition but was never used again.[21]
convicted in New York City to serve their prison terms in
Sing Sing, which is literally "up the Hudson River" from
Educational programs the city. Its use dates from 1891.[30][31]
In 1996, Katherine Vockins founded Rehabilitation
Through the Arts (RTA) at Sing Sing.[22] RTA works in Gallery
collaboration with theater professionals to provide pris-
• Sing Sing
oners with a curriculum of year-round theater-related
workshops.[22] The RTA program has put on a number
of plays at Sing Sing open to prisoners and community
guests. The program has shown that the use of dramatic
techniques leads to significant improvements in the cog-
nitive behavior of the program’s participants inside
prison and a reduction in recidivism once paroled.[23]
The impact of RTA on social and institutional behavior
was formally evaluated by John Jay College for Criminal
Justice, in collaboration with the NYS Department of Cor-
rections.[24] Led by Dr. Lorraine Moller, Professor of
Speech and Drama at John Jay, the study found that RTA
had a positive impact on prisoners who participated in • The prison and workshops c.1863–1885
the program, showing that "the longer the inmate was • A cell in the older facility
in the program, the fewer violations he committed.".[25] • The electric chair at the Sing Sing prison
The RTA program currently operates at 5 other New York
state prisons.[23]
Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, a not-
for-profit organization was founded to provide college
education to incarcerated people in an effort to help re-
duce recidivism and poverty, while strengthening fami-
lies and communities. In 1998, as part of the get-tough-
on-crime campaign, state and federal funding for college
programs inside prison was stopped. Understanding the
positive effects of education in the transformation and
rehabilitiation of incarcerated people, inmates at Sing
Sing Correctional Facility reached out to religious and
academic volunteers to develop a college-degree granti-
• The prison c.1913
ng program. Under the leadership of Dr. Anne Reissner,
• Old cell block c.1938
Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison was founded
3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sing Sing
References
[1] "NYCHS: Guy Cheli’s ’Sing Sing Prison’ List of
Wardens Page". Correctionhistory.org.
http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/
state/singsing/html/wardens.html. Retrieved
2010-09-06.
[2] "NYS Dept. of Corrections Facility list". NYS Dept.
of Corrections. http://www.docs.state.ny.us/
faclist.html. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
[3] "History of Ossining." Greater Ossining Chamber of
Commerce. Retrieved on December 21, 2008.
[4] Hub System: Profile of Inmate Population Under Custody
on January 1, 2007. State of New York, Department of
Correctional Services.
http://www.docs.state.ny.us/Research/Reports/
Hub_Report_2007.pdf
[5] Village looks to create Sing Sing museum, May 22,
2007. Earthtimes.org http://www.earthtimes.org/
articles/show/65218.html
[6] "Railroad.net bridge and rail details".
http://www.railroad.net/forums/
viewtopic.php?f=67&t=68568. Retrieved
2011-06-05.
[7] ^ "NYCHS excerpts: Guy Cheli’s "Sing Sing Prison"".
Correctionhistory.org.
http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/
state/singsing/cheliindex.html. Retrieved
2010-09-06.
[8] ^ Crime Library profile of Sing Sing Prison
http://www.crimelibrary.com/
notorious_murders/famous/sing_sing/index.html
[9] ""The History of Sing Sing Prison, by the Half Moon
Press, May 2000"". Hudsonriver.com.
See also http://www.hudsonriver.com/halfmoonpress/
• Wardens of Sing Sing stories/0500sing.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
[10] Lewis, O.F. (2005). The development of American
prisons and prison customs, 1776-1845 : with special
reference to early institutions in the State of New York.
Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing. p. 109.
ISBN 9781417964024. Google Books
4
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sing Sing
[11] "New York State Archives: Institutional Records: Ph.D" (PDF). http://www.p-c-i.org/press/
Sing Sing Correctional Facility". MollerStudy.pdf. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
Archives.nysed.gov. [26] "Hudson Link homepage". hudsonlink.org.
http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/research/ http://www.hudsonlink.org. Retrieved 2011-05-19.
res_topics_legal_corrections_inst_sing.shtml. [27] http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2177
Retrieved 2010-09-06. [28] "Would a Sing Sing Museum Be in Bad Taste?". The
[12] *Within Prison Walls: Being a Narrative of Personal New York Times. 2007-05-20.
Experience During a Week of Voluntary Confinement in http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/nyregion/
the Stete Prison at Auburn, New York (NY: Appleton nyregionspecial2/20colwe.htmlM.
and Company, 1914). [29] http://planning.westchestergov.com/
[13] Denis Brian, Sing Sing: The Inside Story of a Notorious index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1174&Itemid=2
Prison, 85-112. [30] Online Etymology Dictionary: "river". Retrieved
[14] *New York Times: "Convicts’ Carnival Welcomes February 21, 2010.
Osborne" July 17, 1916, accessed Dec. 8, 2009. [31] Encyclopedia.com: Sing Sing. Retrieved February
[15] "Lewis E. Lawes’ NYC & NYC Correctional 21, 2010.
Career:Part 2". Correctionhistory.org. 2003-06-25.
http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/
state/lawes/lewiselawesnotes2.htm. Retrieved
Further reading
2010-09-06. • Barnes, Harry Elmer. The Repression of Crime, Studies in
[16] "All about Sing Sing Prison, by Mark Gado — Lewis Historical Penology. Montclair, NJ: Patterson Smith.
E. Lawes — Crime Library on". Trutv.com. • Blumenthal, Ralph. Miracle at Sing Sing: How One Man
1920-01-01. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/ Transformed the Lives of America’s Most Dangerous
notorious_murders/famous/sing_sing/8.html. Prisoners. (2005)
Retrieved 2010-09-06. • Brian, Denis. Sing Sing: The Inside Story of a Notorious
[17] "NYCHS excerpts: Mark Gado’s "Stone Upon Stone: Prison. (2005)
Sing Sing Prison"". Correctionhistory.org. • Brockway, Zebulon Reed. Fifty Years of Prison Service.
http://www.correctionhistory.org/ Montclair, NJ: Patterson Smith.
auburn&osborne/bighouse5.htm. Retrieved • Christianson, Scott. Condemned: Inside the Sing Sing
2010-09-06. Death House. (2000)
[18] "All about Sing Sing Prison, by Mark Gado — Sing • Conover, Ted. Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing (2000) ISBN
Sing Now — Crime Library on". Trutv.com. 0-375-50177-0
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/ • Gado, Mark. Death Row Women. (2008) ISBN
notorious_murders/famous/sing_sing/13.html. 978-0-275-99361-0
Retrieved 2010-09-06. • Goeway, David. Crash Out: The True Tale of a Hell’s
[19] "’Up the river’ views: Sing Sing condos". New York Kitchen Kid and the Bloodiest Escape in Sing Sing History.
Post. 2011-04-06. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/ (2005)
local/ • Lawes, Lewis E.. Twenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing.
up_the_river_views_SCFWPU7s5zANHRGvrSF0CJ. New York: Ray Long & Richard H. Smith, Inc., 1932.
[20] "Executions of Federal Prisoners (since 1927)." • Lawes, Lewis E.. Life and Death in Sing Sing. Garden
Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on August 22, City, NY: Garden City Publishing Co., 1928
2010. • Morris, James McGrath. The Rose Man of Sing Sing: A
[21] "NYCHS excerpts: Mark Gado’s ’Stone Upon Stone: True Tale of Life, Murder, and Redemption in the Age of
Sing Sing Prison’". Correctionhistory.org. Yellow Journalism.(2003)
http://www.correctionhistory.org/ • Papa, Anthony. 15 to Life: How I Painted My Way To
auburn&osborne/bighouse4.htm. Retrieved Freedom (2004) ISBN 1932595066
2010-09-06. • Pereira, Al Bermudez. Sing Sing State Prison, One Day,
[22] ^ New York Times: For Inmates, a Stage Paved With One Lifetime (2006) ISBN 978-0805972900
Hope May 27, 2007. • Pereira, Al Bermudez. Ruins of a Society and the
[23] ^ "Rehabilitation Through the Arts homepage". P- Honorable (2009) ISBN 978-0578043432
c-i.org. http://www.p-c-i.org/rta.php. Retrieved • Weinstein, Lewis M. A Good Conviction. (2007) ISBN
2010-09-06. 1595941622 (fiction)
[24] "Program Objectives - Rehabilitation Through the
Arts homepage". P-c-i.org. http://www.p-c-i.org/
rta_objectives.php. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
External links
[25] "The Impact of RTA on Social and Institutional • Facility Listing - New York State Department of
Behavior Executive Summary Lorraine Moller, Correctional Services
5
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sing Sing
• "All about Sing Sing Prison" by Mark Gado from The • "The History of Sing Sing Prison" Half Moon Press,
Crime Library May 2000 issue
• New York Corrections History Society • Rehabilitation Through the Arts homepage
• Town of Ossining, NY - Town History
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sing_Sing&oldid=463666826"
Categories:
• Sing Sing prison
• 1828 establishments in the United States
• Buildings and structures in Westchester County, New York
• Double-named places
• Prisons in New York
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