ESP

Ginger and I spent yesterday morning touring the Eastern State Penitentiary near our home. It costs $9 and we were given an audio listening device to guide us. It is a fascinating tour. The penitentiary was the first prison designed for the purpose of producing what its name indicates - penance. It was meant to be a humane system of producing repentance in the soul of the offender. Based on the Quaker belief that each person has an inner light which can come through if only given time for solitude, the prisoners were placed in cells where they had no contact, not only with the outside world, but from any other prisoner. They spent 23 hours in their cells and one hour in the small private courtyard connected to the cell. The prison was world-reknown and became the model for hundreds in Europe and S. America. Charles Dickens made a point of visiting it, but came away with the conclusion that it was a terrible model that fostered insanity and broken spirits.

Check it out sometime, and then go over behind the Art Museum to the WaterWorks Museum which gives a history of the waterworks which also was a major attraction.