Walnut Street Prison (1789)

Title: Walnut Street Prison (1789)
Description: An etching of the Walnut Street Prison in Philadelphia. Established as a city jail in 1773, it was expanded in 1790 to become the first state penitentiary in the new country. This prison was among the first to feature individual cells and was built to accommodate work details. The penitentiary was noted to have a larger percentage of Black inmates than white, noting the racialization of incarceration in the United States. The prison was in operation until 1838.
Date: 1789
Author: Malcolm, James Peller, 1767-1815
Legal Concept: Incarceration
Subject: African Americans; Incarcerated People
Temporal Coverage: Early Republic; Territorial Expansion; Antebellum Period
Spatial Coverage: Pennsylvania; Northeast
Document Type: Image
Document Category: Primary Source
Archival Source: James Peller Malcolm. The Jail, Philada. 1789. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
Digital Repository: Library of Congress
URL: https://www.loc.gov/item/2003671644
Contributor: Emily Binder

Title: Walnut Street Prison (1789)
Description: An etching of the Walnut Street Prison in Philadelphia. Established as a city jail in 1773, it was expanded in 1790 to become the first state penitentiary in the new country. This prison was among the first to feature individual cells and was built to accommodate work details. The penitentiary was noted to have a larger percentage of Black inmates than white, noting the racialization of incarceration in the United States. The prison was in operation until 1838.
Date: 1789
Author: Malcolm, James Peller, 1767-1815
Legal Concept: Incarceration
Subject: African Americans; Incarcerated People
Temporal Coverage: Early Republic; Territorial Expansion; Antebellum Period
Spatial Coverage: Pennsylvania; Northeast
Document Type: Image
Document Category: Primary Source
Archival Source: James Peller Malcolm. The Jail, Philada. 1789. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
Digital Repository: Library of Congress
URL: https://www.loc.gov/item/2003671644
Contributor: Emily Binder

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