8 - Changing the Subject: The Metamorphosis of Prison Reform in the High Progressive Era

Summary

Our principal trouble in prison reform is that reforms have been patchwork. The time has come, it seems to me, for thorough-going studies followed by thorough-going reform.

Theodore Roosevelt, “The New Penology” (1913)

In the fall of 1913, the defenders of progressive statecraft engineered a remarkable opportunity to reverse their losses and advance their cause when an ordinary laborer by the name of Tom Brown was committed to the New York State Prison at Auburn. On its face, Brown's incarceration was routine: Upon entering the administration building, he was allocated a prisoner number – #33,333X – which the Prison Clerk recorded, together with details of his conviction, in the prison Admissions Ledger. Brown then answered questions put to him by one of the prison medical orderlies. The orderly noted on an index card that the new prisoner was a widower, laborer, and father of four, with a high school education. Prison officials then prepared Brown's person for incarceration: A convict–barber trimmed his hair and shaved off his thick moustache, an office clerk took his finger prints, and the Bertillon clerk examined, photographed, and measured his body, noting that the new prisoner's distinguishing features included a large scar and six small tattoos on his left bicep. Brown then exchanged his civilian attire for prison shoes, underwear, and the standard-issue coarse gray uniform.