US Penitentiary Leavenworth

by Kenneth M LaMaster

  In the spring of 1932, the institution’s bulletproof car was received at Collard Chevrolet. It featured expanded fenders, gun ports, heavy doors, and bulletproof glass. (Courtesy Jimmy Trum.)

  On November 12, 1963, inmates attempted a daring daylight escape. After assaulting staff in B cell house, inmates gained access to a ladder and attempted to scale the wall. As the first inmate dropped over the wall, an alert tower officer shot the inmate in both legs. His accomplice held on to him as guards came to their rescue. (Courtesy Steven Fox.)

  What is wrong with this picture? Is this an inmate standing at the back of a cell? Actually it is an artist easel with a house coat draped over it, with an inmate-made mannequin head. (Author’s collection.)

  Five

  CELL HOUSES

  With four galleries complete and construction of the fifth floor underway, C cell house was open for inmates in 1903. After being transferred from the old military prison on Fort Leavenworth, 413 inmates were housed in this cell house and the second floor of what became the laundry building. (Courtesy Jim Will.)

  By 1910, the second cell house was complete. This interior view was used by the Stewart Iron Works company as an example of their work. Once complete, each cell house contained cell space for 330 inmates. Leavenworth was the first institution west of the Mississippi River to have running water, toilet facilities, and electric lighting in each cell. Each cell house has open-face cells and a utility corridor between each row of cells. A flow-through ventilation system helps cool the cells in the summer. Inmates are issued gasoline heaters during the winter months. (Courtesy Jim Will.)

  Two-man cells became common as the population grew. By the time prohibition came along, an institution designed for 1,500 had a population of 3,500. In order to keep the spread of infectious diseases under control, guards working the cell houses in the winter were instructed to open all the windows every two hours and leave them open for 30 minutes. During the summer months, inmate orderlies walked the galleries passing out water and ice. (Courtesy Benedictine College.)

  Here are the two main cell houses under construction. Each became two-and-a-half city blocks long and five galleries high. A cell house contained eight- to 12-man cells, while B cell house contained two-man cells. Both cell houses have a front stairwell that is for guard use only; a center stairwell is for inmate use. (Author’s collection.)

  This exterior view shows the eight-man cells of A cell house. Construction began in 1908 and was near completion in 1919 when a fire was set to wooden scaffolding. Inmate and Leavenworth city fire fighters fought the blaze that was believed to have been set by members of the Industrial Workers of the World. Two days prior, a letter was intercepted in the mail that was written by one of their members claiming the fire was to be set on the Fourth of July. Construction on the cell house was completed and the unit opened in 1924. (Author’s collection.)

  A cell house, looking from front to back, is seen in this photograph. The first floor was known as the flag, and the second through fifth floors were known as galleries. The front side facing the street became know as the light side and the back facing the inside of the institution became know as the dark side. Housing anywhere from 800 to 1,200 inmates, this cell house has six guards assigned to patrol, a number one guard, and one guard for each gallery. Inmates start their day at 6:30 a.m. During the 4:00 p.m. count, all inmates are to be standing and facing the front of the cell. Once count is complete, each gallery is released one at a time as they are called for the evening meal. The cell house remains open until 9:00 p.m. After the 10:00 p.m. count, guards rotate galleries and pull each and every door in the cell house insuring it is secure. (Courtesy Chuck Zarter.)

  An interior view of A cell house shows the eight- to 12-man cells. Inmates are issued two sheets, two blankets, one pillow, a locker for personnel belongings, a laundry bag, and a book shelf. Each cell contains two writing desks that are attached to the walls. Inmates are responsible for the sanitation of their assigned cells. Each cell contains a head phone plug-in so the inmates may listen to the institution radio station. (Author’s collection.)

  To strengthen family ties, telephone booths were installed by the 1970s. Each inmate is allowed to make collect calls and given a 15-minute time limit. By the 1990s, inmates were responsible for paying for their own phone calls by placing money they have earned or received from their family in a phone account. (Author’s collection.)

  A dormitory was located in the basement of A cell house and provided inmates with a more relaxed atmosphere. Charles S. Wharton wrote about dormitory life in his book, The House of Whispering Hate. Inmates were allowed to stay up later and every inmate’s duty was to smuggle something in to eat during the evening hours. Early inmates living in this dormitory were prison trusties that worked outside the walls. It has also served as the parolee dormitory. (Courtesy Leavenworth Public Library.)

  This is a typical view of the two-man cells in B cell house. These cells measure five feet wide by six feet deep with seven-foot ceilings. Housing mostly new arrivals, this is an inmate’s first taste of life in Leavenworth. Early inmates showered once a week, shaved twice a week, and had their hair cut twice a month. Most wear the third grade black and white stripped uniform and perform menial labor. (Author’s collection.)

  As the social climate on the outside changes so does the climate of most prisons. In the early days, D cell house, which opened in 1910, housed mostly inmates of color. By the 1980s, it housed older, quieter inmates. A typical one-man cell contains a corner cabinet with a sink, a toilet, a bed, a mirror, an overhead cabinet, and a writing table. These cells are smaller than most, measuring under five feet wide and less than six feet deep. Note the fish tank located above the head of the bed. After riots at Atlanta and Oakdale, Louisiana, in 1988, the cells were stripped of all these amenities and one-piece stainless steel sinks and toilets were added along with bunk beds attached to the walls. This became home to the Cubans who had participated in those riots. Since the close of the 1990s, this unit has been used as an honor wing and is currently the only cell house that remains unrenovated. (Author’s collection.)

  By late 1983, a massive renovation project was underway in B cell house. Cells were made larger, plumbing was updated, showers were renovated, and air conditioning was added. The cell house was converted from one unit to two separate units by a new concrete floor. This made the units smaller, quieter, and easier to manage. (Courtesy National Archives and

  Records Administration.)

  By 1986, A cell house was closed and renovation had started. During the next two years, bulldozers and dump trucks were placed inside the cell house as the unit was totally gutted to the original foundation and outer shell. As construction neared completion, the riots in Atlanta and Oakdale, Louisiana, broke out. Leavenworth staff worked alongside construction workers 24 hours a day hanging doors, painting, and doing what ever it took to get the cell house up and operational. (Author’s collection.)

  One of the oldest buildings on the compound is building 63. Originally opened in 1898 as the deputy warden’s office, it has served as the segregation unit. It is in this building that inmate Robert Stroud had his aviary and conducted his experiments on birds. Behind this building on September 5, 1930, inmate Carl Panzram was executed for the murder of laundry foreman R. G. Warnke. On August 12, 1938, the last execution to occur at Leavenworth was again behind this building. Robert Suhay and Glen J. Applegate were hanged simultaneously for the murder of FBI agent Wimberly W. Baker on March 16, 1937, during the Topeka Post Office shootout. (Author’s collection.)

  The newest building on the compound is the special housing unit. Using staff ideas, construction began in August 1987 and the unit was opened in March 1989. Cells were constructed entirely off site and trucked into the facility. All wiring, fixtures, beds, and windows were installed prior to the cell’s arrival. The building includes an inmate law library, staff offices, property room, indoor and outdoor recreation yard, and a no-contact visiti
ng room. (Author’s collection.)

  Today very little but photographs remain of the old Leavenworth. With the renovation of living areas, the institution is more manageable, as well as safer for inmates and staff alike. Newer cell houses are more quiet and feature climate-controlled heating and air. There are cells provided for inmates with disabilities. Prior to the installation of air conditioning, inmate and staff assaults were a constant problem. Since then, there has been a dramatic decrease in the amount of such assaults. (Author’s collection.)

  Six

  INMATE HANDS ARE NOT IDLE HANDS

  From the beginning, services and programs were designed to aid in an inmate’s rehabilitation process and keep them busy. The message on the chalkboard reads, “Real knowledge is far better than the mere reputation.” Education, religious, medical, recreational, and drug awareness programs are designed not only to help an inmate, but also make him more self aware and responsible when he returns to society. (Author’s collection.)

  Inmate Albert Leon, No. 1809, was a Russian immigrant received on December 21, 1911, on a 10-year sentence for counterfeiting. During his incarceration, Leon was responsible for the most famous piece of art work ever done at the institution. In an open letter addressed to warden Thomas W. Morgan in August 1913, Leon wrote, “I am making an appeal not alone for myself but chiefly for the mental and spiritual uplift of my fellow prisoners.” (Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration.)

  Taken from St. Luke 15:2, Leon titled his work, This Man Welcomes Sinners and Eats With Them. Made using old bed sheets and leftover construction materials, Leon credits deputy warden William Mackey, Capt. John Purcell, and assistant superintendent of construction Mr. Carroll, for their help and encouragement during the project. Featured in magazines throughout the 1920s and 1930s, this painting survived a fire in the chapel in 1925, but it was destroyed by rioting inmates on July 5, 1992. (Courtesy Ken Meyer.)

  Robert W. McClaughry stated, “Baseball takes the mind of the prisoner off his troubles, stimulates him to better efforts, and is one of the best diversions possible.” With that, baseball came to Leavenworth on May 22, 1912. Deputy warden William Mackey built a regulation-size baseball park with bleachers that held 1,500 inmates. Tryouts were held, and regular practices were conducted. Teams and the league were formed along ethnic lines. The whites formed the Brown Sox, Native Americans organized the Red Men, and African Americans formed the Booker T. Washingtons. At stake was the institutional championship and its silken pennant. (Courtesy Tim Rives.)

  John Mosher, No. 15438, also known as John Schlitz and John Von Schlitz, arrived at the institution on August 16, 1920, after receiving a life sentence for murder. As a private in the 9th Provincial Guard in Coblenz, Germany, after World War I, Mosher, for reasons unknown, murdered a sergeant in his company. Assigned to the stone-cutting shop, Mosher began crafting small pieces of art work and was soon commissioned as an artist for two war memorials. (Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration.)

  War Angel (above) and Peace (below) were both commissioned by the American War Mothers Association and sculpted inside the institution’s walls. Both are constructed from limestone and weigh more that five tons. War Angel stands in Brookfield, Missouri, and Peace is located in a veterans’ cemetery in Quincy, Illinois. John Mosher sculpted a third statue that was offered to the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City but was rejected because it was “convict labor” and “prison made goods.” No records exist of what became of that statue. (Above, courtesy Gina Smith, Brookfield Library; below, courtesy Mike Kipley, Quincy Herald Whig.)

  At 18 years old, Roy Tyler joined the 24th Infantry Regiment and became a buffalo soldier. He was convicted of mutiny and murder after the Houston, Texas, riot of August 1917. Between 1921 and 1924, Tyler led the Booker T. Washingtons in hits and base running. In 1925, Tyler was paroled to Andrew Rube Foster, founder of the Negro National League baseball association. Other Booker T. Washingtons players to play Negro National League baseball include David Wingfield, Albert Street, and Joe Fleet. (Courtesy Tim Rives.)

  Boxing came to Leavenworth in July 1920 shortly after heavyweight champion John Arthur “Jack” Johnson was sent to prison for violation of the Mann Act. After arriving, an exhibition match was arranged with Johnson fighting his regional namesake “Topeka” Jack Johnson. Boxing would endure inside the prison walls until the late 1960s when gambling and violence outside the ring were fueled by what happened inside the ring. (Courtesy Jim Will.)

  Thomas W. Morgan succeeded Robert W. McClaughry and became warden on July 1, 1913. A respected newspaperman, Morgan began making changes almost immediately. For the first time, inmates were allowed to mingle during the Sunday recreation period and talk freely to each other. A phonograph and records were purchased by the inmates and made their rounds through the cell houses. The first movie was shown in 1914 and an air show featuring Mickey McGuire was arranged. (Author’s collection.)

  On February 27, 1914, the New Era ran for the first time. It began as a weekly newspaper and, over the years, was run as a monthly, quarterly, and biweekly publication. Editors have included explorer Dr. Frederick Cook and Joseph Kerwin, the only man ever convicted of piracy on the Great Lakes. When the New Era was discontinued in the 1970s, it had been the longest-running prison newspaper in U.S. history. (Author’s collection.)

  From the very beginning, a belief has existed that education is one of the best tools in rehabilitation. Leavenworth was the first prison to have regular classrooms and a full-service library. Inmates were able to read anytime they were not working. Early classes were taught by the Sisters of Charity of St. Mary’s College, the University of Kansas, the Topeka Barbering College, and Kansas City Kansas Community College. (Author’s collection.)

  Religious services are held and give opportunity for inmates to grow spiritually. Services are set up in accordance to all denominational needs. Counseling is provided to inmates grieving the loss of a loved one. Classes such as the faith-based Life Connections program provide inmates a chance to better understand the choices they make and how to better their lives once they are returned to society. (Courtesy Chuck Zarter.)

  By 1912, the first institutional hospital was built, providing the most comprehensive medical treatment of any prison. Inmates are treated by members of the U.S. Public Health Service, and treatment for any illness is available night and day. Emergency treatment, surgeries, and dental care are provided. One of the first institutional dentists was Dr. Walter Cronkite Sr., the father of the famous television-news journalist. (Author’s collection.)

  A Carnegie arts program provided inmates with musical and theatrical aspirations and an outlet to refine their craft. Talent shows featuring all genres of music were held regularly. Plays were written, directed, and performed entirely by the inmate population. A fully functional recording studio allowed inmates to record original music. Arts and crafts such as painting, leather work, and ceramics classes were provided. (Courtesy Jim Will.)

  Performances by entertainers such as Johnny Cash, the Statler Brothers, June Carter Cash, Mother Mabelle Carter, and the Carter Sisters were met with loud applause. Lectures by Maud Ballington Booth, founder of Hope Houses and the Volunteer Prisoner’s League, brought hope for a better life. Groups such as the Negro National League’s Kansas City Monarchs, George Jones, Christi Laine, and National Football League great Paul Horning have stopped by. (Courtesy John Gartz.)

  On the afternoon of July 17, 1973, a 40-ton semi-trailer was moved into position just outside the auditorium. It served as the control booth and production trailer for The Burt Reynolds Late Show. Reynolds, along with costars Dinah Shore, Jonathan Winters, Merle Haggard, and comedian Jim Hampton, began taping at 7:30 p.m. for the show that aired on October 13, 1973. Taping lasted until 2:30 a.m. with 1,600 of the institution’s 1,980-man population attending in two shifts. Thirty-three inmates performed on the show that was produced by Andy Sidaris with coproducer Jack Wohl. (Author’s collection.)

/>   Seven

  WORK ASSIGNMENTS

  From the beginning, all able-bodied inmates were expected to work. The largest employer of inmates in the institution has been Federal Prison Industries or Unicor. It has provided goods to the government at reasonable cost and provided inmates with not only jobs, but also skills that will help them once they leave the facility. Goods produced throughout the institution’s history have included shoes, brooms, brushes, clothing, furniture, mail bags, mattresses, and government documents. (Author’s collection.)

  The first ever photograph taken of the institution’s shoe factory appeared as a postcard in 1905. Early records indicate that the shoe factory produced boots and shoes for the guards, inmate population, and the military. Records also indicate that the cost for a pair of boots was $2.90, while shoes cost $1.85. Inmates were paid 8¢ per pair of shoes and 16¢ for boots. In the first year, inmates produced 34,164 pairs of boots and 25,944 pairs of shoes. (Courtesy Jim Will.)