Eastern State Penitentiary: Crucible of Good Intentions

By: Norman Johnston, Kenneth Finkel (Contributor) Jeffery A. Cohen

Description: This book is the definitive work on the Penitentiary. First published in 1994, as part of an exhibit of the same name at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Dr. Johnston traces Eastern State’s 172 year history beginning the reform movement that spawned the Penitentiary’s construction and ending with the legacy of this internationally significant building. The book contains nearly 100 color and black and white images and diagrams.

Printed with funding from the Pennsylvania History and Museum Grant Program.

ISBN: 0812279654; Dimensions (in inches): 0.62 x 11.32 x 9.11, 116 pages. © 1994.

$27.95 ($24.95 each plus $3.00 S & H)

Eastern State Penitentiary (Images of America)

By: Frances X. Dolan

Description: This book features over 200 rare photographs and images from the Penitentiary’s last 231 years of history. Many of the photographs in this book have recently been donated to the historic site by former officers and inmates and have never before been seen by the public.

This comprehensive book will provoke, enlighten and engross both ESP buffs and novices alike.

ISBN-13: 978-0738550398; Dimensions (in inches): 9.25 x 6.50 x 0.25, 128 pages. © August 13, 2007.

$22.99 ($19.99 each plus $3.00 S & H)

Eastern State Penitentiary: A History

By: Paul Kahan

Description: Eastern State Penitentiary: A History documents the stories of the men and the method that shaped one of Philadelphia's most recognizable landmarks. In this superbly balanced and thoroughly researched volume, Paul Kahan presents the history of this revolutionary penitentiary, from its inception as a model of the revolutionary Pennsylvania System of incarceration in 1829 to the demands for its closure in the wake of ever increasing violence in 1971. Through tales of spectacular escapes, official corruption, reformation and retribution, Kahan chronicles the tensions that plagued Eastern State since the arrival of its first prisoners.

ISBN-13: 978-1596294035; Dimensions (in inches): 9.8 x 6.9 x 0.4, 128 pages. © September 15, 2008.

$22.99 ($19.99 each plus $3.00 S & H)

Handbook for Officers

Description: This booklet is a reproduction of the Manual of Rules, Regulations and Required Duties for Corrections Officers given to all new Eastern State Penitentiary (then known as S.C.I. Philadelphia) corrections officers in 1961.

Dimensions (in inches): 9.00 x 6.00, 45 pages, soft cover.

$4.75 ($3.95 each plus 80¢ S & H)

Hope Abandoned: Eastern State Penitentiary

Description: By: Mark Perrott (Photographer), Herbert Muschamp (Introduction), Hal Kirn

This hard cover book, published by the historic site in February 2000, contains 67 black and white photographs. The photographs were taken inside the walls of Eastern State Penitentiary between 1992 and 1996 by Pittsburgh photographer Mark Perrott.

To capture these images, Mr. Perrott extensively explored the twelve-acre complex of cellblocks, administrative and industrial spaces. Hope Abandoned includes photographs of the penitentiary synagogue, dining halls, inmate chapel and hospital operating room.

Within these grand architectural spaces, Mr. Perrott focused on personal objects left behind, such as horsehair shaving brush, a worn and bursting baseball, a stool, a desk, and a prisoner’s tin drinking cup. Hope Abandoned combines these images with carefully chosen excerpts from interviews with former inmates, guards, and neighbors, evoking sympathy, fear and humor.

ISBN: 0-9670455-0-9; Dimensions (in inches): 9.25 x 9.80, 105 pages, hard cover © 2000.

$31.00 ($28.00 each plus $3.00 S & H)

Outta Here: Escapes from Eastern State Penitentiary

Description: By: Norman Johnston

Prisons have always been designed to keep the inmates in, and most everybody else out. The Eastern State Penitentiary was no exception. It was built for serious offenders, and the architect himself believed that the building was "escape proof". But it was not. More than 100 men managed to scale, tunnel under or sneak through Eastern State?s thirty-foot wall. And many others tried. . .

ESP expert Dr. Norman Johnston provides a fascinating and often humorous look at many of the famous and not so famous escapes that occurred during Eastern State?s 142 years in operation. The book contains over one dozen black and white archival photographs and diagrams.

Dimensions (in inches): 9.75 x 8.50, 26 pages, soft cover ? 2005.

$7.95 ($6.95 each plus $1.00 S & H)

CHOW: Food and Drink In Eastern State Penitentiary

Description: By: Norman Johnston

Description: In his latest book, CHOW: Food and Drink In Eastern State Penitentiary, Dr. Norman Johnston provides an in depth and often humorous look at the history of feeding during Eastern State?s 142 years in operation.

Included are sample menus, descriptions "The Chocolate Diet" and other meals for the sick, popular contraband food and drink items, food costs and even a recipe for "prison wine." Dr. Johnston also compares the typical Eastern State inmate diet to that of working class Americans as well as to that of inmates in other American prisons.

CHOW: Food and Drink In Eastern State Penitentiary CHOW: Food and Drink In Eastern State Penitentiary By: Norman Johnston Description: In his latest book, CHOW: Food and Drink In Eastern State Penitentiary, Dr. Norman Johnston provides an in depth and often humorous look at the history of feeding during Eastern State?s 142 years in operation. Included are sample menus, descriptions "The Chocolate Diet" and other meals for the sick, popular contraband food and drink items, food costs and even a recipe for "prison wine." Dr. Johnston also compares the typical Eastern State inmate diet to that of working class Americans as well as to that of inmates in other American prisons. The book contains over one dozen black and white archival photographs.

Dimensions (in inches): 9.75 x 8.50, 30 pages, soft cover ? 2006.

$7.95 ($6.95 each plus $1.00 S & H)

Behind the Walls: A Guide to Eastern State Penitentiary

Description: This booklet is the official visitors guide to Eastern State Penitentiary and acquaints readers with the prison’s many stories and offers a glimpse into its haunting world of crumbling cell blocks and empty guard towers. Included are 27 black and white photographs from the Penitentiary’s archives, as well as a map of the 11 acre complex.

Dimensions (in inches): 9.45 x 6.50, 18 pages, soft cover.

$2.80 ($2.00 each plus 80¢ S & H)

Pandemonium Audio CD: Janet Cardiff + George Bures Miller

Description: This catalog for Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller's critically acclaimed audio installation Pandemonium includes an audio CD of the piece, as well as nearly three dozen color and black and white images of the installation. Using the existing elements in the prison cells, Cardiff and Miller have produced a percussive site work that is rhythmic and musical at some points and at other times pure sound as if a multitude of people or ghosts have inhabited the hall.

ISBN: 0-9649221-2-6; Dimensions (in inches): 0.25 x 8.75 x 5.75, 48 pages, hard cover © 2005.

$12.95 ($9.95 each plus $3.00 S & H)

Breaching the Walls
By: Joseph J. Corvi and Steve Conway

Description: Joe Corvi provides an insider’s view of certain events that took place in the eastern Pennsylvania penal system during the 1940’s and 1950’s. He shares a familiarity with the prisons, the inmates, the administration and those events that can only be gained through personal knowledge, firsthand experience and a close acquaintance with men who are the actors in his drama. In short, he can tell the story convincingly because he was there, an inmate himself.

Although the cast of the characters is large, Breaching tells the story of three men who served years together in three eastern Pennsylvania prisons, including Eastern State Penitentiary. One of the men made the best of a bad situation, served his time and was finally released. The other two made the worst of it, thinking only of freedom. In the end, one escaped from the law and the other used the law to escape.

At most every turn of a page a prison break is being conceived, or executed. Men escape and are captured. Holdups, armed robberies. and shootings punctuate the chapters. Good guys, bad guys, and chase scenes abound. In the interludes between the action scenes, the inmates experience everything from terrifying confrontations to simple fraternal kindnesses. Finally, there are the long hours spent contemplating the mind-numbing prospect of being incarcerated for interminable decades-and endless purgatory.

Dimensions (in inches): 5 1/4 by 8 inches, 190 pages, soft cover.

Publisher: Personal Legends Publishing (December, 2002) ISBN: 0-9725468-0-4

$19.95 ($16.95 each plus $3.00 S & H)

Prison Manifesto: recollections of a Queer Psychologist Working in a Maximum Security Prison
By: Bernard Mazie

Description: Prison Maifesto is a memoir. It is a survivor’s story of a just-out gay man encountering a totally macho environment on his own terms. Relating to initially hostile inmates and correctional officers presented unique problems with equally unique solutions. The outcome is favorable and the telling is unforgettable.

Bernard Mazie worked at Eastern State Penitentiary as "Psychological Services Associate" from the fall of 1966 to 1969.

ISBN: 0-9769715-0-X; Dimensions (in inches): 0.75 x 9.00 x 6.00, 311 pages, soft cover © 2005.

$19.95 ($16.95 each plus $3.00 S & H)

Philadelphia Haunts: Eastern State Penitentiary, Fort Mifflin, & Other Ghostly Sites

Description: Read stories brought to life during encounters at Eastern State Penitentiary, where whispers from famed Cellblock 12 (home of the “Lock Down” attraction at Terror Behind the Walls) were caught on tape and much more! At Fort Mifflin, visions of bloody men of the Revolutionary time are seen and their agonizing cries are heard. Also visit apparitions of South Philly and Center City; read about a ghost who?d killed family members and then himself &endash; he now interacts with the living; see a nostalgic spirit who stands at the corner of 9th and Passyunk. Included, too, is information for ghost hunters about protection, equipment, and tips for investigating ghosts. Watch where you walk in Philadelphia; chances are there may be a spirit or two strolling next to you! (Description from book cover).

Dimensions (in inches): 8.9? x 6.0? x 0.6?, 160 pages, soft cover.

Publisher: Schiffer Publishing Ltd; ISBN-13: 978-0764329876; (August 28, 2008)

$17.99 ($14.99 each plus $3.00 S & H)