Description: Dated April 28, 1934, this is a photograph of the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio, that shows prisoners lined up outside the prison. Construction for the limestone Ohio Penitentiary began in 1832. The dining hall at the prison could seat 1,700 men and there were 1,685 cells, the older cells measuring 3.5 feet x 7 feet and the new cells 5 feet x 8 feet. Located on Spring Street in downtown Columbus, the Columbus Penitentiary was open from 1834-1984. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC763_003
Subjects: Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio); Prisons--Ohio; Prisoners and prisons; Photography
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: The Main Building at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield. The prison, now no longer used, has served as a movie set. The concept of the prison was that labor and learning would provide a way to reform those who were sent there and give them the ability to live a productive life in normal society. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06815
Subjects: Prisons; Prisons--Ohio--Pictorial works; Richland County (Ohio)
Places: Mansfield (Ohio); Richland County (Ohio); Ohio
 

Description: An aerial view of the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield. The prison, now no longer used, has served as a movie set. The concept of the prison was that labor and learning would provide a way to reform those who were sent there and give them the ability to live a productive life in normal society. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06820
Subjects: Prisons; Prisons--Ohio--Pictorial works; Richland County (Ohio)
Places: Mansfield (Ohio); Richland County (Ohio); Ohio
 

Description: Taken on April 26, 1930, this photograph shows an aerial view of the Ohio Women's Reformatory in Marysville, Ohio. In 1911, the Ohio General Assembly authorized the establishment of a separate women’s penal institution. On September 1, 1916, the Ohio Reformatory for Women opened in Marysville with a population of 34 inmates. When Marguerite Reilley was appointed superintendent of the Reformatory in 1935, she found dirty and unkempt inmates with excessively restricted living habits. She instituted the “human being” program which provided recreation, entertainment, jobs, and vocational training for the inmates. State Archives Series 6591 AV consists of 128 black and white aerial photographs of Ohio state properties, such as hospitals, universities and colleges, parks, lakes, and reservoirs, and prisons. The photographs were taken in the spring of 1930 by the 112th Photo Section of the 37th Division Air Services. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA6591AV_B01_001
Subjects: Marysville (Ohio); Aerial photographs; Ohio Reformatory for Women; Prisons; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections
Places: Marysville (Ohio); Union County (Ohio)
 

Description: An unidentified woman being sworn in to testify at the Ohio Pen Investigation, January 1935. The investigation of the Ohio Penitentiary Fire that broke out the evening of April 21, 1930, killed 322 inmates and is regarded as the worst disaster in American prison history. Official investigation into the penitentiary tragedy was started the following morning by the attorney general's office. Governor Myers Y. Cooper and E.C. Snively, assistant attorney general, headed the board of inquiry. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05671
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Fires; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio); Prisons--Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: An unidentified woman sitting in a chair apparently giving testimony at the Ohio Pen Investigation, January 1935. The investigation of the Ohio Penitentiary Fire that broke out the evening of April 21, 1930, killed 322 inmates and is regarded as the worst disaster in American prison history. Official investigation into the penitentiary tragedy was started the following morning by the attorney general's office. Governor Myers Y. Cooper and E.C. Snively, assistant attorney general, headed the board of inquiry. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05672
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Fires; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio); Prisons--Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of Columbus, Ohio, author Ysabel Rennie posed with a copy of her book "Kingside," from the Columbus Citizen-Journal Collection. Ysabel Fisk Rennie (1918-2006) was born in California, and attended Stanford College and Harvard University. During World War II, she worked as a political analyst and later as an intelligence analyst in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), forerunner of the CIA, from 1943 to 1945. Following the war, she was an officer of the U.S. State Department until 1947. She moved to Columbus with her husband and children in 1951, and was the author of two novels, "The Blue Chip" (1954) and "Kingside" (1963). She became interested in prison conditions and prison reform following the 1968 Ohio State Penitentiary riot, and remained active in this effort, helping to achieve many changes in the Ohio prison system. She published newspaper columns and non-fiction works in addition to her earlier novels, including "The Search for Criminal Man" in 1978. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P339_B11F16_05_01
Subjects: Authors; Ohio Women; Literary Ohio; Prisoners and prisons; Social reformers;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Thomas Davis was electrocuted December 15, 1911, for the murder of two Hungarians (one named Paul Hegyi) in a strip of woods north of Circleville in Pickaway County, Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08091
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Capital punishment; Death row; Prisoners and prisons
Places: Pickaway County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph from the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus is of Eugene Harris, a 24-year-old male from Montgomery County, Ohio. His formal attire suggests that the photograph was taken during his trial or sentencing. Harris was the 227th individual to be executed via the electric chair in Ohio. The caption at the bottom reads: "No. 227, Eugene Harris of Montgomery County, Legally Electrocuted October 23, 1940, for the Murder of Policeman Lucius Rice, at Dayton, Ohio." In 1885 the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio, became the location for all executions, which previously took place in the various county seats. In 1896 the Ohio General Assembly mandated that electrocution replace hanging as the form of capital punishment. The Ohio Penitentiary regularly offered tours as well as souvenir photographs and postcards of the building and prisoners on death row. A total of 315 prisoners, both men and women, were executed in the electric chair known as “Old Sparky” between 1897 and 1963. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08281
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Capital punishment; Death row; Electrocution; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio); Prisons--Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph from the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus is of Joseph Di Marco, age 24. Di Marco was executed on the same day as Anthony Cirasole; both men were convicted of murdering Edward Erdody. His formal attire suggests that the photograph was taken during his trial or sentencing. The caption at the bottom reads: "No. 228, Joseph Di Marco of Cuyahoga County, Legally Electrocuted January 14, 1941, for the Murder of Edward Erdody, at Cleveland, Ohio." In 1885 the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio, became the location for all executions, which previously took place in the various county seats. In 1896 the Ohio General Assembly mandated that electrocution replace hanging as the form of capital punishment. The Ohio Penitentiary regularly offered tours as well as souvenir photographs and postcards of the building and prisoners on death row. A total of 315 prisoners, both men and women, were executed in the electric chair known as “Old Sparky” between 1897 and 1963. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08282
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Capital punishment; Death row; Electrocution; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio); Prisons--Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph from the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus is of Anthony Cirasole, age 31. Cirasole was executed on the same day as Joseph Di Marco; both men were convicted of murdering Edward Erdody. His formal attire suggests that the photograph was taken during his trial or sentencing. The caption at the bottom reads: "No. 229, Anthony Cirasole of Cuyahoga County, Legally Electrocuted January 14, 1941, for the Murder of Edward Erdody, at Cleveland, Ohio." In 1885 the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio, became the location for all executions, which previously took place in the various county seats. In 1896 the Ohio General Assembly mandated that electrocution replace hanging as the form of capital punishment. The Ohio Penitentiary regularly offered tours as well as souvenir photographs and postcards of the building and prisoners on death row. A total of 315 prisoners, both men and women, were executed in the electric chair known as “Old Sparky” between 1897 and 1963. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08283
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Capital punishment; Death row; Electrocution; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio); Prisons--Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Roslynn Ferrell, of Union County, was Electrocuted March 1, 1901, for the Murder of Eugene Lane. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08060
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Prisons--Ohio