Sing Sing Correctional Facility

Derived from the Native American words, “Sin Sinck” meaning “Stone on Stone”, Sing Sing Correctional Facilities was commissioned in 1825 to former US Army Captain Elam Lynds. 100 prisoners from Auburn Prison in New York, constructed the new prison in Mt. Pleasant, a town along the Hudson River. Built on an abandoned quarry site which offered them ample marble to construct the new establishment, Sing Sing was erected and by November 26th, 1828 was open for prisoners. This prison shaped the future of corrections facilities as well as helped shaped the cultural context around them for years to come

Considered a model prison for the state due to the profits driven by the inmates, life in this prison entailed harsh punishment, as well as, forced labor. Lynds employed the Auburn System for controlling the prisoner population. The prisoners were forced to maintain total silence, with any noise would lead to punishments. The punishments, which included flogging and “the bath,” a form of waterboarding, were solely left to the discretion of the guards due there being no standard code of punishment. Additionally, the prisoners would be forced to perform labor in “lockstep” working 10 hours a day, namely quarrying the local Sing Sing marble. This marble was used to construct notable New York buildings such as Lyndhurst, New York University, Grace Church, the New York State Capitol Building and the United States Treasury Building.

The urban inmate population and proximity to the Hudson River from New York City helped coin the famous phrase “Up the River” which became synonymous with jail time. Also the notable inmates added to the lore of the prison as area newspapers such as the New York Times would cover stories in Sing Sing as if it were a local beat. Its cultural identity was so strong that MGM Studios filmed many movies at the prison, and they built a gymnasium in appreciation.

Capital punishment also has a history in Sing Sing Correctional Facility. By 1916, all the executions in New York State took place at the prison. New York was determined to replace hanging with a more humane system of execution, turned to the electric chair, further nicknamed “Old Sparky." Among the over 600 people executed at Sing Sing was Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, the only nonmilitary prisoners in American history executed for espionage. The 1972 case Furman v. Georgia banned capital punishment in America, and while it was reinstated for a time, it still remains banned in New York State to this day.

Reformists became disillusioned by the ineffectiveness of harsh punishments, and lawmakers searched for ways to transform penal institutions and turn criminals into productive citizens. Much of the storied punishments and restrictions came to an end at the beginning of the 1900’s with the introduction of Warden Thomas Mott Osborne, a prison reformer who allowed the prisoners to partially self govern. Sing Sing even formed its own baseball team, the Ossining Orioles, and faced off against several major league teams, notably Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees. While the original cell block is no longer in use, Sing Sing is still an operational maximum-security prison that houses roughly 1,700 inmates. Despite its notorious name and past, Sing Sing today is regarded as a model prison with various highly regarded rehabilitation programs for the inmates.

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http://www.singsingprisonmuseum.org/history-of-sing-sing-prison.html

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http://www.singsingprisonmuseum.org/historic-significance.html

Robbins, D. (2019, November 20). Flashback: The History Of Ossining's Sing Sing Prison. Retrieved December 18, 2020,

from https://westchestermagazine.com/life-style/flashback-the-history-of-ossinings-sing-sing-prison/