Happy May! 🌸 Swipe to see what events are coming up at Eastern State this month 👉
⚖️ Wednesday, May 13, 2:00pm - 3:00pm | Justice 101: The History of Solitary Confinement
Join us for a virtual guided journey through our historic site as we trace the origins of "the separate system." Originally designed to foster quiet reflection and repentance, solitary confinement quickly evolved into a practice with devastating consequences. We’ll stop at key locations to discuss how solitary confinement was put into practice, and why its legacy continues to spark debate today.
🏛️ Thursday, May 21, 5:30 - 7:30pm | Justice 101: Philly Saves: Adaptive Reuse of Sites of Memory and Trauma
Join us for a conversation on how we preserve and reimagine the physical legacy of our democracy. As the United States Semiquincentennial approaches, this discussion explores how historic spaces across Philadelphia, from prisons to churches to public sites, can be reclaimed as places of memory, dialogue, and community life.
⚒️ Sunday, May 24, 10:00am - 4:00pm | Memorial Day Weekend Preservation Fest
Go beyond the typical tour. Learn how the site is preserved, explore rarely seen areas with preservation staff, and get hands-on with restoration techniques. Special mini-tour and interactive activities included with admission.
🤲 Wednesday, May 27, 5:30pm - 9:00pm | Justice 101: Faith, Reentry, and Prison Reform
Join us for a powerful interfaith dialogue on faith, reentry, and prison reform, bringing together Jewish, Christian, and Muslim leaders to examine how religious traditions have shaped American approaches to rehabilitation, moral responsibility, and reintegration since the nation’s founding.
Eastern State has commissioned more than 100 installations since our art program launched in 1995.
We have witnessed firsthand the power of art to open hearts and minds, encourage deep reflection, honor lived
experience, dismantle misconceptions, and inspire action toward social change. Your gift today will help make
certain that ReVision: Art and Justice has the support it needs to ensure its effectiveness as an artistic project,
educational opportunity, and model for the future.
🔗 Learn more and make your gift today through the link in our bio
Your invited to our next event
Justice 101: Dying on the Inside-The History of America’s Incarceration of Women
Date: May 20th
Time: 5:30-7:30 PM
Eastern State Penitentiary
2027 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia
Online attendance is available
Sign up link in bio
#dyingontheinsidepod #event #paneldiscussion #podcast #history
Motherhood has existed in every corner of history—even within the walls of Eastern State Penitentiary.
Did you know that many children were born at and/or lived at the prison? Historical records show that at least 33 incarcerated women gave birth there. Infants often remained with their mothers for several years, as they were considered too young to be separated. Children of administrative staff also lived on the prison grounds with their families. #MothersDay
We’re launching a groundbreaking program that will provide a new outlet for artists who have been
historically marginalized, misunderstood, and hidden. ReVision: Art and Justice is a multiyear artist-in�residency program that centers the expertise of justice-impacted artists to reshape how millions of visitors
understand the American criminal justice system and its impact on the people who’ve experienced it firsthand.
Your gift to support ReVision ensures that the next chapter of Eastern State’s history is defined by empathy,
dialogue, and the transformative power of the human spirit.
🔗 Learn more and make your gift today through the link in our bio
Those who were incarcerated at Eastern State Penitentiary typically held work assignments such as cooking, typewriter repair, printing, and even making dentures.
Prison labor is supported by the 13th Amendment's exception for punishment, which allows involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime. Today, incarcerated people typically perform institutional maintenance (cooking, cleaning) or manufacture goods for external companies, with wages often ranging from $0.12 to $1.15 per hour.
In this clip from 1958, the narrator explains how prison labor at Eastern State Penitentiary comes at great saving to the taxpayer and states that the better trained prisoners are for "honest work", the less "vindictive and vengeful" they become, making society safer.
What stands out to you about how prison labor is described here?
Did you know that some incarcerated men at Eastern State Penitentiary worked as barbers, shaving both their fellow prisoners and guards? 💈✂️
In almost every cellblock at Eastern State, one cell was converted into a barbershop. The cells were equipped with fluorescent lights, outlets, mirrors, and barber chairs. Incarcerated men were trained to be barbers, and issued straight razors for shaving their customers. Some guards even brought their family and friends here for an inexpensive haircut.
You can even see a few existing barber chairs at the historic site when you visit today!
📸 Photo 1: @17.88_films
📸 Photo 2: Guard Bernard Kowalkowski receiving shave and haircut (1956), Collection of Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, gift of the Kowalkowski Family
🎥 We've got some more archival footage from Eastern State alongside the historic site today to share—showing what the penitentiary looked like then vs. now!
Edit: The first “then/now” clips are reversed
A long look down the Cellblock 4 corridor. 📸 We love seeing Eastern State Penitentiary through your lens!
Photo: Hobby for Hope Photography on Facebook
Happy International Day for Monuments and Sites! 🏰 In 1958, the City of Philadelphia certified Eastern State Penitentiary as a historic property. Eastern State was later designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965.
To celebrate the history of this site, take a look at the facade of the penitentiary throughout the years—all the way back to 1874!
