History, Natural History & the Arts
The Hudson River Maritime Museum has an extensive collection of oral histories interviews of Hudson River commercial fisherman, including Edward Hatzmann, who was recorded on April 25th, 1992.
Hatzmann recalled a story told to him by fellow fisherman Charlie Rohr, about a prison break from Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York. [Read more…] about Sing Sing Prison Break: A Hudson River Fishing Tale
Greater Hudson Heritage Network has announced a behind-the-scenes walking tour of the Ossining Aqueduct Weir, set for Friday, May 31, 2019, from 5 to 7:30 pm. Attendees will meet at the Joseph Caputo Community Center in Ossining, and walk to the Weir on the Double Arch Bridge. [Read more…] about Tour of Old Croton Aqueduct Ossining Weir Friday
In 1904, one year after his release from prison, a felon who used only the pen name Number 1500 wrote the book Life in Sing Sing, a rare look at what it was like to serve time inside the legendary penitentiary. The author also presents his thoughts on effective methods of rehabilitation. He comments, “The attitude…toward convicts that belong to the recidivist class is to punish them severely and, having failed with hard measures, to try harder ones.”
[Read more…] about Sing Sing’s Mysterious Inmate Author Number 1500 Revealed
Everyday several thousand cars traveling north and south on Ossining’s Rt. 9 pass a white frame two-story building that is the home of American Legion Post 506 that also bears the name, Edmond C.C. Genet.
It’s a safe bet to say that most of the drivers and even the pedestrians who pass the building ever give a second thought to this modest structure. Even fewer know of the wartime exploits of Edmund Charles Clinton Genet and his ancestors, whose service to the United States goes back for five generations.
Genet was the great great grandson of Edmond-Charles Genet, also known as Citizen Genet, the French Ambassador to the United States shortly before the French Revolution. He is historically remembered for being the cause of an international incident known as the Citizen Genet Affair. [Read more…] about Edmond Genet: World War One Pilot, KIA
Perhaps you have never heard of Katherine Lawes. Katherine was the wife of Lewis Lawes, warden at Sing Sing Prison from 1920-1941.
Sing Sing had the reputation of destroying wardens. The average warden’s tenure before Lewis Lawes was two years. “The easiest way to get out of Sing Sing,” he once quipped, “is to go in as warden.” In his 21 years he instituted numerous reforms – and an important part of his success was due to his wife Katherine. [Read more…] about The Mysterious Death of the Angel of Sing Sing
On April 22nd, 2017 at noon, New York State will be 240 years old. It was on that date back in 1777 that New York’s Constitution was signed in Kingston, New York.
What better way to celebrate that important document that gave life to our State than to organize and conduct brief, unified, community-wide bell ringing event in as many of the cities, towns and villages in the State of New York as possible at their houses of worship and other institutions. [Read more…] about Celebrations of NY State’s 240th Birthday Planned
The Cayuga Museum will host a new film and guided discussion series titled “Exploring the Prison through Film: A Journey with Dr. Lucien Lombardo.” The series will show four films, each exploring a different theme within the context of imprisonment. Each film will be screened and then followed with a conversation guided by Dr. Lucien Lombardo, who will place the themes of the film in context in penal history.
The series begins on Tuesday, October 18 at 6 pm with the 1932 film “20,000 Years in Sing Sing,” starring Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis. Exploring the theme of managing a prison, this film was loosely based on an influential book by Lewis Lawes, Warden of Sing Sing. Scenes from the movie were filmed at Sing Sing, using real prisoners as extras. [Read more…] about Cayuga Museum: Exploring Prison through Film Series
Written more than eighty years ago, Fifty Years in Sing Sing: A Personal Account, 1879-1929 (SUNY Press, February, 2015) is the personal account of Alfred Conyes (1852–1931), who worked as a prison guard and then keeper at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York, from 1879 to 1929.
This unpublished memoir, dated 1930, was found among his granddaughter’s estate by his great-granddaughter Penelope Kay Jarrett. [Read more…] about Fifty Years in Sing Sing: A Personal Account