Sing Sing Prison

New York State Prison Newspapers: Voices from the Inside

September 9, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

On March 24, 1800, Forlorn Hope was published within a prison in New York state, edited by an incarcerated person. In the intervening 200+ years, over 700 prison newspapers have been published from U.S. prisons in all fifty states.

The NYS Library has provided JSTOR with access to rare prison newspapers from their holdings. JSTOR has digitized those newspapers and made them freely available to the public as part of their collection, American Prison Newspapers, 1800s-present: Voices from the Inside. [Read more…] about New York State Prison Newspapers: Voices from the Inside

1925 Northern New York Radio History

August 1, 2025 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

Orrie Gould had a radio and would travel. “Gordon Russell and George Wilson were at J. Hebert Bly’s Sunday evening and enjoyed a radio entertainment furnished by Orrie Gould of Ticonderoga. The main feature was a church service from Albany, after which several stations were tuned in for musical selections,” the Crown Point Merchant’s Row correspondent reported in the Ticonderoga Sentinel on April 11, 1925.

“A few of our members were privileged to listen to a radio entertainment at the home of John Andre Saturday yesterday evening,” the Crown Point correspondent reported April 23rd. Orrie Gould of Ticonderoga brought the radio. [Read more…] about 1925 Northern New York Radio History

1851: The Opening of the Hudson River Railroad

February 28, 2025 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

What follows is an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald of New South Wales, Australia on January 23, 1852. Chartered in 1846, the Hudson River Railroad was built to connect the Troy and Greenbush Railroad with the city of New York.

On Wednesday, [October 3, 1851] the ceremony took place of opening the Hudson River Railroad, in its entire length from New York to Albany. Hitherto the portion of the road between Poughkeepsie and Tivoli [in Dutchess County] (twenty-six miles) was not in operation, and the passengers were conveyed in a steamboat between those two points. Last week the road was completed, and the cars ran over it privately. Last week it was [also] publicly opened, by running two excursion trains each way and returning. [Read more…] about 1851: The Opening of the Hudson River Railroad

Crania Americana: Phrenology, Slavery, Crime & Removal

May 10, 2024 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

On August 30, 1851, the New York Evening Post carried an advert that promised visitors free access to the Phrenological Cabinet at Clinton Hall, 131 Nassau Street, in Manhattan, which displayed a collection of busts, casts and skulls of celebrities, pirates and murderers.

Those who entered the premises were given the opportunity to consult professional examiners for a verbal or written description of character. [Read more…] about Crania Americana: Phrenology, Slavery, Crime & Removal

Sing Sing Prison Break: A Hudson River Fishing Tale

September 25, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

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

1899 And The Making Of New York City

April 26, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp 5 Comments

On August 31st, 1901, Polish-American anarchist Leon Czolgosz booked a room in Nowak’s Hotel at 1078 Broadway.

Six days later he made a trip to Buffalo, site of the Pan-American Exposition where President William McKinley was due to speak. He shot him from close range. [Read more…] about 1899 And The Making Of New York City

Sing Sing’s Mysterious Inmate Author Number 1500 Revealed

March 4, 2019 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

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.”

The Mysterious Death of the Angel of Sing Sing

April 4, 2017 by Miguel Hernandez 13 Comments

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

Fifty Years in Sing Sing: A Personal Account

December 28, 2014 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

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

Sing Sing Prison

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