The purpose of this lesson is to help students understand the reforms that developed in the Colorado prison system before 1900.

Research Questions

1. What principles did the 1870 National Prison Congress promote in their Declaration?
2. What were the views of at least three wardens concerning treatment of prisoners as stated in their biennial report?
3. How did wardens promote and develop their reform ideas?
   • Separating hardened criminals (recognizing the length of time it took for this to happen);
   • Fair punishment (both McGinn and Hoyt indicate this is the case);
   • Privileges for good behavior;
   • Clean conditions;
   • Students' research should help them to recognize that what we see as fair punishment might differ from what actually happened. For example, the 1884 commission's suggestion that life in prison was a crueler punishment than hanging.

Activity 1

Students create a timeline showing the events in the history of the prison. (All dates on the web site.)

1. First prison building;
2. Cellhouse 1;
3. Cellhouse 2;
4. Prison chapel;
5. School literacy classes;
6. Women's cellhouse;
7. Lime quarry purchased;
8. Contracted labor for the Colorado shoe and boot factory;
9. First cattle purchased;
10. Inmate band;
11. Colorado legislature passess law restricting inmate labor off grounds that is not related to prison business.

Students should then list at least three items that relate to national reforms or those called for by wardens, writing a paragraph about each.

Activity 2

Students should research the reform views and "changes intended in law" of one of the wardens or of the Board of Commissioners between 1880 and 1900 and write a speech supporting their opinion to present to the class.

Local history Center Materials

• Web Site
• Biennial Reports
• At Hard Labor, Elinor McGinn
• Transactions of the National Congress on Penitentiary and Reformatory Discipline

Created Folder

• General rules adapted by the 1870 National Prison Congress.
• Rules for officers and employees, contractors, inmates in shops, general inmate population (taken from Warden Felton's (1880-1881) Biennial Report).
• 1884 Board of Commissioner's report that calls for "changes in the law" promoting hanging as more human than life in prison.