sing sing prison

I've been reading about Sing Sing prison in upstate New York (about 30 miles north up the Hudson river). It was opened in 1826 and was extremely brutal, ensuring the prisoners remained silent by copious amounts of beatings and whippings. The prison (Correctional Facility) is still open today, but no-where near as harsh. The cell above is one of the earlier examples, and does not look like it was a lot of fun to live in. The term "Going up the river" meaning to be sent to prison, originated from when prisoners were sent up the river to Sing Sing. The electric chair photograph is of Ruth Snyder, who was executed in the chair in 1928, and the picture was sneaked out by Tom Howard, a newspaper reporter who had a camera strapped to his leg, so he could capture the image at the moment of execution. It all makes Durham prison (where l went) seem pretty boring (although Bronco, who l shared a cell with, was certainly a character).

toodle pip