Eastern State Penitentiary
Subtitle: crucible of good intentions
By: Norman Johnston, with Kenneth Finkel and Jeffrey A. Cohen.
Contributors: Finkel, Kenneth.; Cohen, Jeffrey A., 1952-; Preservation Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. Eastern State Penitentiary Task Force.; Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Publisher: Philadelphia Museum of Art for the Eastern State Penitentiary Task Force of the Preservation Coalition of Greater Philadelphia
Published: 1994
Place of publication: Philadelphia
Language: eng
Number of pages: 116
Subjects: Haviland, John, 1792-1852 -- Criticism and interpretation; Eastern State Penitentiary of Pennsylvania -- History; Architecture -- Human factors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- History -- 19th century; Quakers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- History -- 19th century; Philadelphia (Pa.) -- Buildings, structures, etc
Other titles: Crucible of good intentions.
Description: The massive Eastern State Penitentiary in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia, now a National Historic Landmark, is remarkable for its innovative architecture and its pioneering system of isolation in individual cells. Heir to the energetic Quaker reformist tradition in Philadelphia in the 1820s, the penitentiary was a model of idealism in penal reform and a model of prison architecture for the world. About three hundred prisons worldwide trace their paternity to Eastern State Penitentiary.

This book shows how the novel experiment in prison reform contended with the realities of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and explores the legacy of this "crucible of good intentions."
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 106-115).
... Published on the occasion of an exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from July 16 to Sept. 11, 1994.