Sing Sing Prison (NY) (Images of America) [Paperback]

Guy Cheli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 6, 2003

A popular backdrop for numerous movies, Sing Sing, or "the Big House," has been a site of both controversy and reform. The history of Sing Sing dates back to 1825, when warden Elam Lynds brought one hundred inmates to begin construction of the prison "up the river" on the banks of the Hudson. The marble quarry that supplied the building material for the prison was located in an area that was once home to the Sint Sink, a Native American tribe whose name means "stone upon stone." Prison life was dominated by hard labor during the early years. Convicts in striped suits and shackles built the prison with their own hands. With the arrival of warden Lewis Lawes in 1920, Sing Sing became the most progressive prison of its kind. During this time, the New York Yankees traveled up to Sing Sing to play the prison's home baseball team; the prison grounds were landscaped with shrubbery and flower gardens; and the compound grew to include a chapel, mess hall, barbershop, library, and gymnasium. The electric chair was first introduced at Sing Sing in 1891. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the first civilians to be found guilty of espionage, were put to death there in 1953. Sing Sing Prison contains rare photographs from the prison archives, the Ossining Historical Society, and a private collection.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Guy Cheli is a member of the Ossining Historical Society, a writer, and contributing editor for Here at Home magazine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (July 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738512060
• ISBN-13: 978-0738512068
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #851,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book, except for one baffling error, September 29, 2008

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dave in milwaukee (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Sing Sing Prison (NY) (Images of America) (Paperback)

This is a wonderful treasury of rare photographs that really takes the reader inside the mysterious world of Sing Sing. I only found two faults with the book. One is that I would have liked to have seen a few more "modern" photos, from the period of 1930 to 1960.

The second was a glaring error involving a photo that did not belong in this book. Page 94 shows a photo of the infamous "thrill killers" Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb arriving at prison in 1924. The caption says, "Leopold was sentenced to 99 years in Sing Sing." But the prison shown in the photo is Joliet Penitentiary in Illinois, not Sing Sing. In Neither Leopold nor Loeb had any connection to Sing Sing. They committed their crime in their hometown, Chicago, where they were also tried and convicted. They served their entire prison time in Illinois, first at Joliet and then at Statesville (Loeb was killed in a prison fight at Statesville in 1936, and Loeb was finally paroled from that prison in 1958).