When the old administration building
was razed in 1938, Copper John was taken down, repainted, and measured for his "Bertillon," the exacting record of
measurements that was taken of every inmate. Copper John weighed in at 600 pounds. His skin is 1/4 inch thick.
From his boots to the tassel on his hat, he stands 8', 8 1/2" tall. His rifle, weighing 100 lbs., is slightly more than 11'
tall. When the new administration building was completed, he returned to his post.
At the invitation of the first warden, William Brittin professors and students from the nearby Auburn Theological
Seminary began to visit the prison and deliver sermons on Sunday mornings. Rev. Jared Curtis was sent to Auburn
Prison in 1824 by the Prison Discipline Society in Boston. Curtis established Sabbath School in the prison in 1825,
using students from the seminary as teachers. Curtis became the first prison chaplain in the United States when he
went on the State payroll as full-time chaplain in 1827. His salary was $200 a year.
The first legislation governing education was passed in 1847, directing the employment of two part-time teachers under
the direction of the chaplain. The teachers tried to give lessons on the galleries at night, after the prisoners had
worked a 10-hour day. With the prisoner locked behind a latticed door and the teacher outside with a lantern and a
Bible, the lessons did not go very far. It was not until after the first electrocution took place in 1890 that the prison
was electrified, with artificial light in cells and shops. This hastened the progress of the educational program.
By 1900, there was a successful program for the Americanization of foreign-born prisoners. The education program
was greatly expanded through the work of Thomas Mott Osborne and the Mutual Welfare League.
After the League was disbanded in 1930,
education in the prison declined again.
In 1958, at the request of Warden
Robert E. Murphy, the old buildings which
had housed the women's prison were razed
to make room for a new educational
building. The new school opened in
January 1961. The Osborne School, named
in honor of Thomas Mott Osborne, was
fully accredited by the State Education
Department and provided primary and
secondary academic programs, high school
equivalency and college programs, as well
as specialized vocational training. The
school became quite popular with inmates.
By 1970, an average of 35 men annually
graduated with a Regents high school
diploma and another 150 men obtained
high school equivalency diplomas. Both
types were issued by the State Education
Department and did not indicate that they
were earned in prison.
In the 1970s, after the deadly riots
in Attica State Prison and other penal
institutions throughout the country, a
number of programs were introduced in the
prison at Auburn. There was an active art
program, writing workshops, the creation
of what became an award-winning inmate
newspaper, The Auburn Collective, and a
college program for inmates. Men could
earn an Associate's degree, a Bachelor's
degree, even a Master's degree behind
bars. SUNY Auburn's motto was "You
can graduate, but you can't leave." Public
sentiment against inmates receiving a "free"
education doomed the program, and SUNY
Auburn was discontinued in the 1990s.
Today, the academic options at Auburn
Correctional Facility include Adult Basic
Education for non-readers, a pre-high school
program (through 8th grade reading level),
and a General Equivalency Diploma program.
English as a Second Language is available when
necessary. Vocational education programs
include computer repair, electrical, barbering,
masonry, upholstery, building maintenance,
drafting, custodial maintenance and welding. |
[Exhibit announcement, photos page] || [NYCHS home page]
|| [Auburn&Osborne starter page]
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Both Sides ofNYCHS is honored to be permitted to post this presentation of the "Both Sides of the Wall" exhibit brochure authored by Eileen McHugh, Cayuga Museum of History and Art director. | All Cayuga Museum of History and Art rights to its Both Sides of the Wall exhibit brochure material presented above are reserved to and retained by it. |