Charlestown Prisonc. 185115 1/2 x 20 1/2 "
Frame: 26 3/8 x 30 1/8 x 1 "Watercolor, pencil, ink on paperGift of Ralph Esmerian2005.8.120Perspectival rendering of Charlestown Prison with prison yard under blue skies, prisoners marching in single file through yard in three groups, wearing red and blue uniforms and hats. Prison guards and inspectors in black ink wearing top hats and cutaway coats, walking sticks. Octagon building on right, red brick building on L, barracks (cells) behind.1545323371P1.2001.057Artist unidentifiedDrawingsThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain. Label on back: American Folk Art Gallery 22 East 51st Street/Exhibited 1929/Charlestown Jail/Anonymous c. 1820/watercolor on paper. Label: Folk Art Gallery 13th StreetBostonBostonUnited StatesMassachusettsWorks on PaperAmerican Folk Art Gallery. 1929 (subsidiary gallery of Downtown Gallery which was established with Holger Cahill in 1929, opened 1931). Boston
In 1805, the Massachusetts State Prison at Charlestown was opened on five acres of land in Lynde’s Point, which was well situated for sanitary and security purposes, and for transporting the stone that was cut and shaped through the hard labor of convicts. It was a penitentiary, intended for rehabilitation, and an early experiment in "moral architecture" intended to support these efforts. By this time, the greatest percentage of the prison population sentenced to hard labor was for property crimes.
Counterfeiting and forging often merited the most severe punishments, striking as they did at the very foundation of an emerging market economy that depended upon the integrity of its medium of exchange. Long-term incarceration, without the support of family and friends from the outside, necessitated an entirely new and self-sufficient ecosystem with a tenuous balance between the work product of the prisoners, sometimes contracted to independent concerns, and the internal maintenance of the facility and the prisoners. The men organized into their own societies, sometimes mentoring younger men who, rather than being rehabilitated, honed their skills in various illicit activities.
For the first sixty years in the life of the prison, inmates wore uniforms that were half blue and half red, with painted caps. A yellow stripe was added for repeat offenders, and convicts were tattooed before being released. At the center of the prison was a five-story administration building, flanked by two wings of four stories containing ninety cells measuring 17 by 11 feet, and intended to house from four to sixteen prisoners. On the lower stories were smaller, windowless solitary cells. Upon admittance, each prisoner—many of whom had trade skills—was allowed to choose his occupation. The largest portion of their time was then spent in hard labor in the workshop buildings, initially located in a single, narrow, two-story brick building as seen in this watercolor.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Charlestown State Prison," exhibition copy for American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2020. According to letter received by David Schorsch from Robert B. Mackay, SPLIA, March 1, 1989, painting can be no earlier than 1850-1851. Octagonal building on the right was designed by Gridley J.F. Bryant and built between 1850-1851. Similar example by C.H. Golder sold Richard Oliver auction 11/4/89.This rendering presents a picture of restricted and orderly conduct in the life of the state prison in the Charlestown section of Boston. Opened in 1805, the prison was designed by Charles Bulfinch and occupied five acres of land. The cruciform plan included a central building surmounted by a cupola with an alarm bell and two four-story wing extensions that held ninety cells. Between 1850 and 1851 the prison was expanded to include the octagonal granite structure seen in this drawing, and the capacity was increased to 750 prisoners.
For the first sixty years in the life of the prison, inmates wore uniforms that were half blue and half red, with painted caps. A yellow stripe was added for repeat offenders, and convicts were tattooed before being released back into the community. The main activity of the inmate workforce was cutting stone shipped from nearby Quincy, though there were also shops for a variety of other productions, including cabinetmaking and tinsmithing.
The original cells were barely large enough to hold a cot and had neither a window nor plumbing. Reforms were instituted in 1829, when the Auburn system, which advocated complete silence and the separation of prisoners at night, was introduced. Modifications were soon adopted and included programs such as the establishment of a Sabbath school to teach the Bible and basic reading, writing, and arithmetic, and separate garden plots for prisoners’ use.
Stacy C. Hollander, “Charlestown Prison,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgP1.2001.05718461856 2005 8 12
In 1805, the Massachusetts State Prison at Charlestown was opened on five acres of land in Lynde’s Point, which was well situated for sanitary and security purposes, and for transporting the stone that was cut and shaped through the hard labor of convicts. It was a penitentiary, intended for rehabilitation, and an early experiment in "moral architecture" intended to support these efforts. By this time, the greatest percentage of the prison population sentenced to hard labor was for property crimes.
Counterfeiting and forging often merited the most severe punishments, striking as they did at the very foundation of an emerging market economy that depended upon the integrity of its medium of exchange. Long-term incarceration, without the support of family and friends from the outside, necessitated an entirely new and self-sufficient ecosystem with a tenuous balance between the work product of the prisoners, sometimes contracted to independent concerns, and the internal maintenance of the facility and the prisoners. The men organized into their own societies, sometimes mentoring younger men who, rather than being rehabilitated, honed their skills in various illicit activities.
For the first sixty years in the life of the prison, inmates wore uniforms that were half blue and half red, with painted caps. A yellow stripe was added for repeat offenders, and convicts were tattooed before being released. At the center of the prison was a five-story administration building, flanked by two wings of four stories containing ninety cells measuring 17 by 11 feet, and intended to house from four to sixteen prisoners. On the lower stories were smaller, windowless solitary cells. Upon admittance, each prisoner—many of whom had trade skills—was allowed to choose his occupation. The largest portion of their time was then spent in hard labor in the workshop buildings, initially located in a single, narrow, two-story brick building as seen in this watercolor.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Charlestown State Prison," exhibition copy for American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2020. According to letter received by David Schorsch from Robert B. Mackay, SPLIA, March 1, 1989, painting can be no earlier than 1850-1851. Octagonal building on the right was designed by Gridley J.F. Bryant and built between 1850-1851. Similar example by C.H. Golder sold Richard Oliver auction 11/4/89.This rendering presents a picture of restricted and orderly conduct in the life of the state prison in the Charlestown section of Boston. Opened in 1805, the prison was designed by Charles Bulfinch and occupied five acres of land. The cruciform plan included a central building surmounted by a cupola with an alarm bell and two four-story wing extensions that held ninety cells. Between 1850 and 1851 the prison was expanded to include the octagonal granite structure seen in this drawing, and the capacity was increased to 750 prisoners.
For the first sixty years in the life of the prison, inmates wore uniforms that were half blue and half red, with painted caps. A yellow stripe was added for repeat offenders, and convicts were tattooed before being released back into the community. The main activity of the inmate workforce was cutting stone shipped from nearby Quincy, though there were also shops for a variety of other productions, including cabinetmaking and tinsmithing.
The original cells were barely large enough to hold a cot and had neither a window nor plumbing. Reforms were instituted in 1829, when the Auburn system, which advocated complete silence and the separation of prisoners at night, was introduced. Modifications were soon adopted and included programs such as the establishment of a Sabbath school to teach the Bible and basic reading, writing, and arithmetic, and separate garden plots for prisoners’ use.
Stacy C. Hollander, “Charlestown Prison,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org