The 24-page, 11x17 soft-cover publication, whose text and design elements are reflected in the images above, was presented to NYCHS earlier this year by retired Auburn Correctional Facility Deputy Superintendent John N. Miskell. Six of his monographs are featured in the Auburn&Osborne section of our web site. NYCHS gratefully acknowledges these and his other many contributions to the cause of New York Correction History.
John N. Miskell |
The Star of Hope had more the look of a publication by and for inmates throughout the state prison system rather than just a facility-focused sheet. Although produced at Sing Sing, the tabloid-size magazine listed, in addition to the Sing Sing inmate editorial staff, an inmate "Local Editor" for each of the other major prisons in the state system at that time (Auburn, Clinton, Great Meadows, and the Women's Prison at Auburn).
Its pages featured news about, descriptions of and inmate literary contributions from those prisons as well as Sing Sing. The list of staff and editors, like the bylines with stories and poems, gave no individual names, only inmates' prison ID numbers.
Because the soft covers used in the 1913-14 holiday seasion issue were grayish brown material, they did not scan well as digital color images. Grayscale scanning made the design elements and text stand out more distinctly. Colors for the back cover's original red and gold design elements were applied to replicate its actual appearance. A similar replication technique was used for the Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year ribbon lettering in the front cover image detail appearing at the top of the NYCHS home page and this page.
