Sing Sing Prison

NMCP's collection holds a cell lock from New York's Sing Sing prison (built 1825) so rusted and discolored from age that it looks like somebody buried it. In fact, one of the penologists of the era declared that inmates had "to be literally buried from the world" in order for them to fully confront and repent their criminal pasts. Some believed that there was a very strong connection between a prison's architecture, the forced social isolation of convicts, and the ability of the inmate to truly reform and to try to rebuild his shattered life. For those reasons, Captain Elam Lynds, the warden of New York's Auburn Prison and later the first warden of Sing Sing, directed the first 100 Sing Sing inmates (who also came from Auburn) to build the edifices from marble stones quarried nearby. The resulting complex was as quiet as a stone tomb. (Interestingly, the name Sing Sing was taken from the name for the local village, Sing Sing, which itself was named after the local Indian tribe's words "sint sinks" or "stone upon stone.") Inmates were strictly forbidden from making any unnecessary noises whatsoever. They could not speak to each other, nor were they allowed to sing. They could not engage in any sort of disruptive behavior contrary to the regulations of the "silent system" which sought to improve their morals during their incarceration. As a result, Sing Sing became "one of the most repressive institutions in America."

It also became one of the most famous. The notorious bank robber, Willie Sutton, was jailed in (and later escaped from) Sing Sing, and it was the location of the execution of convicted spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in the electric chair. The prison was even mentioned in the movies as the place where Hollywood gangsters like James Cagney ended up after being dispatched "up the river" (to Sing Sing) by law-enforcement authorities. Despite its well-known and chilling reputation as an ominous warehouse for society's worst criminals, however, Sing Sing's 1,725 current inmates may soon find themselves in a different penitentiary. Several state and local lawmakers, together with thousands of residents from the nearby town of Ossining, have asked Governor Andrew Cuomo to close the maximum-security facility and relocate the prisoners to a new or refurbished prison elsewhere in the state, so that Sing Sing's 60-acre riverside campus can be converted into shops and condominiums that could help elevate property values and generate more taxes for the cash-strapped local government: the site has been described as "beautiful" and with "phenomenal views" that offer spectacular sunsets. But Cuomo has indicated that he will not close any maximum-security prisons that house dangerous murderers and rapists and others convicted of major crimes. Even if the Governor were interested in doing so, he might have a hard time constructing another Sing Sing to hold these often-violent inmates. One guard confided to a New York Times reporter that "You couldn't build a place like this [now]. . .for all the money in the world." That guard spoke on the condition of anonymity - he, too, was under Sing Sing's orders to remain silent.

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