May 2000 issue

According to the New York Express, April 13, 1841, "In 1823 the solitary system of imprisonment was abandoned at the Auburn prison, and was succeeded in 1824 by the present system of shutting up the convicts in separate cells by night, and compelling them to labor diligently during the day.

"The adoption of this system rendered the Auburn prison, which in 1824 contained but 550 separate cells, insufficient for the accommodation of all the convicted felons in the state..."

Elam (read that backwards!) Lynds, Warden of Auburn, agreed to a request by a legislative commission to assist in planning a new prison. He admired the practice in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, where inmates were employed in quarrying stone.

The commission and Mr. Lynds reviewed several sites in New York and finally agreed on Silver Mine Farm, a recently abandoned mining site on the banks of the Hudson River. Entries in the Secretary of State's office refer to the mines where shafts had been sunk for silver ore: Stephen Lyon, Westchester County, town of Mt. Pleasant, about 100 rods south of the discoverers dock, and about 80 rods south of the farmers dock at Sing Sing landing, upon lands of John F. Marsh, (gold and silver.) Nov. 14, 1820.

Galena had been obtained there in small specimens, as well as several ores of copper. The site also offered a rich marble quarry, which would provide material for construction of the prison, plus the opportunity to employ convicts in a quarrying enterprise and to ship the marble for sale in New York City and northern ports.

In 1825, $20,100 was appropriated to buy the 130 acre site, named after the Sint Sinck Native Americans. By May, Mr. Lynds had selected 100 convicts from the Auburn prison and brought them by barge along the Erie Canal to freighters down the Hudson River. They arrived in Sing Sing on May 14, "without a place to receive them or a wall to enclose them."

The initial construction included a cell block 476 feet long, 44 feet wide, and four tiers high, with a capacity of 800 cells, all built of Sing Sing marble. Each cell was seven feet deep, three feet, three inches wide and six feet, seven inches high. On November 26, 1828 the convicts were locked into their cells for the first time. A bible was furnished to each of them the next morning.

Two additional buildings were added by 1830, one containing a hospital and a kitchen; the other a chapel for 900 men. A recreation yard was added in 1831.

Mr. Lynds controlled by brutal intimidation and the use of the lash. Inmates were forced to march in the lock-step, diet was meager and diseases prevalent.

Quarrying continued and stone was provided for Grace Church on Broadway, New York University and City Hall in Albany. In Ossining it was used for Calvary Baptist Church, Highland Court Apartments and the Printex building. However, other industries were introduced and convicts provided the contract labor for making barrels, boots and shoes, hats, brushes, mattresses, and molasses hogsheads for rum dealers. In 1902, 1,200 of the 1,243 inmates were thus employed.

Eventually, the system was phased out after labor unions established their opposition to prison-made goods. The municipalities of Sing Sing changed their name to Ossining in 1901, when goods from local manufacturers were boycotted because of the "Sing Sing" connection.

By the 1860s, some improvements in visitation rights, diet and facilities had been introduced and by 1895 the buildings were lighted, and basic instruction and religious services were provided.

In 1837 a new wing was built at Sing Sing for female prisoners, who had previously been "farmed out." Elizabeth Farnham was appointed as matron a few years later. She made strong efforts to introduce progressive educational programs and ended the rule of silence until she was attacked for the innovations by the warden. After 1877 the women's wing was abandoned and the former method of "farming out" females to local jails was re-instated.

The "Electric Chair" will always be associated with Sing Sing. It was first used in the 1890s when Harris A. Smiler was the first to be electrocuted. Between then and 1963, 613 more men and women died in the prison's chair. The Rosenbergs were electrocuted in 1953 after an international story of espionage.

Although there is a replica in the Ossining Urban Cultural Center, the original is on display at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. The "Death House" has been converted to vocational program space.

With the turn of the twentieth century, prison reform made dramatic changes in the way prisoners were treated. The lockstep was abolished in 1900 and the striped uniform went the same way four years later. Inmates were gradually permitted "freedom of the yard" and baseball was introduced on the recreation field.

(For many years the Yankee baseball team visited the jail to play a game with the inmates. It is reported that Babe Ruth made his longest home-run hit on the prison field.)

Overseers of Sing Sing early in the first half of the 1900s, watched the construction of new cellblocks, a new chapel, an administration building, segregation building, storehouse, mess hall bath house and barber shop. A library was installed, along with classrooms for the inmates. Warden Lewis E. Lawes allowed a former New York City newspaper editor convicted of murder to build a large bird house within the prison grounds.

In 1930, Willie Sutton, Jr., also known as "Willie the Actor," a noted thief, was sentenced to Sing Sing and escaped in 1932. In a book he wrote in 1972 he explained he robbed banks, "Because that is where the money is."

Sing Sing became a popular movie backdrop during the 1930s and 40s, especially by James Cagney, and was used for a remake of "Kiss of Death" and "Bullet" in 1995.

Prisoners left the old cell block for the last time in 1943. The iron bars were removed and donated for use in the war effort. A fire destroyed the roof in 1984, leaving the shell which remains to this day -- reportedly listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1983 a riot at Sing Sing began with over 600 inmates taking 17 Correction Officers hostage, and ended two days later after intense negotiations.

A Sing Sing Fact Sheet from 1996, produced at the Vocational department at the prison notes:
* Sing Sing Today - second largest in New York State (2,369 inmates) with 1,813 inmates in maximum security, 556 in medium security.
* Ethnicity - 56.2 percent Black; 32 percent Hispanic; 10.4 percent White
* Type of Crimes - Murder - 480; Attempted Murder - 106; Manslaughter - 192; Rape 1 - 93; Sodomy 1 - 38; Sex Abuse 1 - 8.
* There are 1,726 inmates in "Violent felony" status. This category encompasses the above crimes as well as Robbery 1 & 2; Assault 1 & 2; Burglary 1 & 2; Arson 1 & 2; Kidnapping 1 & 2.
* There are 750 inmates serving 15 years or more.
* Programs - Sing Sing has a variety of Program Services designed to help maintain the facility and at the same time address the reasons an inmate came to the prison in the first place. All inmates must be involved in a work/program assignment at least two modules a day. These programs include: Academic education; Vocational education; Substance and Alcohol Abuse Treatment; Ministerial Services; Guidance and Counseling Services; Mental health services; Law Library; Recreational Activities; and pre-release Services.
* Staff - The facility has a staffing complement of just over 1,000 employees (750 Security, 150 Support, 100 Program.) These professionals are from all walks of life including officers, doctors, plumbers, clerks, secretaries, counselors and teachers.

Plans for an interpretive center for visitors are currently being considered by state and local officials. It is possible it will open in the foreseeable future to give them an opportunity to observe the experience of being "sent up the river."

Tuesday, June 6 Author of "New Jack: Guarding Sing Sing," Ted Conover, will recount his year as a corrections officer at the famous prison at the Ossining Public Library, 53 Croton Avenue, at 7:30 p.m. A book signing will follow the talk. Free. 914-941-2416.