Commissioner Glenn S. Goord's Special Preface
to NYCHS' web excerpts presentation of the
Eastern NY CF Centennial Booklet

NYS Correction Commissioner Glenn S. Goord chats with fellow ENYCF centennial celebrants at the September 23 banquet.
[Photo by C.O. Robert A. Grant]

As the Commissioner of Correction for New York State and as a former employee of the Eastern New York Correctional Facility, it gives me special pleasure to join the facility's administration and staff in their celebration of its centennial anniversary.

I want to congratulate the celebrants for two praiseworthy accomplishments:

  • First, for their achievement of a memorable anniversary program that blends festivities with appropriate public education activities, and
  • Second, for their ongoing professionalism and commitment to public service, which has enabled the continuation of Eastern's 100-year old tradition of progressive correctional programming in a setting of secure, humane custody.

On October 1, 1900, sixteen prisoners entered the colossal granite edifice that is still one of the most imposing architectural structures in Ulster County, New York, Over the ensuing century, Eastern's employees proved they were capable of performing anything asked of them.<

Eastern was the second adult men's reformatory in this state; it was the first institution for defective delinquents in the world, and it later relieved overcrowding in the New York City jail system by housing short-term misdemeanants.

Today, Eastern is a maximum-security state prison with a medium-security annex and has custody of over 1,200 adult males serving felony sentences.

DOCS Commissioner Glenn S. Goord, at earlier 2000 Albany ceremonies of a historical nature, is a New York Correction History Society trustee and a member of the American Correctional Association committee on correction history.

Eastern's pattern of change imparted a spirit of adaptability, innovation and leadership that is evident to the present day. On its own initiative, Eastern successfully sought American Correctional Association accreditation, an accomplishment that soon after became statewide policy for the Department of Correctional Services.

Eastern was one of the first maximum-security facilities to put inmate work crews at the service of the surrounding community. It has revitalized its farm program and it has retailored two correctional industry programs to better meet the needs of government.

Most recently, it has emerged as a pioneer in the development of programs for disabled inmates, in the meanwhile continuing to offer quality education and counseling services to all inmates.

Other outstanding achievements are detailed in the following [web] pages outlining Eastern's century of excellence in service to the citizens of New York State.

Glenn S. Goord
Commissioner,
New York State Department of Correctional Services

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