A child’s point of view
on Eastern State

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

In an effort to raise awareness of Eastern State Penitentiary among young people, staff members at the historic prison wanted student perspective.
So they contacted Woodrow Wilson Middle School students, who were more than willing to work on what they considered an exciting and different class project.
After an entire school year of research, the students returned to Eastern State last week to present five brochures, a 10-minute film about the prison and a series of podcasts (audio broadcast on the Internet).
The prison’s education director, Andrea Reidell, and board of trustees president, Cindy Wanerman, praised the students for their efforts.
“All of our hard work and determination paid off,” said eighth-grader Danielle Quigley.
Eastern State Penitentiary, at 22nd Street and Fairmount Avenue, opened in 1829. It closed for state prisoners in 1970, but accepted some Philadelphia County inmates through 1971 after a riot at Holmesburg Prison.
Over the years, famous prisoners included gangster Al Capone and Willie Sutton, who once answered a reporter’s question about why he robbed banks by saying, “Because that’s where the money is.”
More than 100 prisoners escaped, but only Leo Callahan was never apprehended.
After the prison closed, it sat vacant for 20 years with little or no maintenance. The city Department of Streets used it for storage. The property was vandalized, became a home for stray cats and developed into an unsightly urban forest.
The city purchased the property from the state, and a group of preservationists and historians readied the prison for the first public tours in 1994.
Today, a nonprofit organization called the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Inc. operates the facility. Movies, including 12 Monkeys, have filmed there. The upcoming film Transformers 2 will use the prison as a set.
The relationship between Wilson and the prison was made possible by a grant from Children Can Shape the Future, a group that supports education in Philadelphia and Camden.
The finished project was made possible by hours of hard work by the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. Their brochures, podcasts and film will be used as marketing tools to draw young visitors.
“It’s what we hire professionals to do,” said Wanerman, the prison board of trustees official who is a 1971 graduate of the former Woodrow Wilson Junior High School.
The students studied all aspects of the prison’s history, from its architecture to famous inmates to death row to its first prisoner, first female prisoner and first escape.
They also learned about various forms of torture, including prisoners having cold water poured on them, being forced to sit on a chair with their limbs tied with a leather strap and being placed in a hole with no air or light and only a cup of water and a slice of bread.
And they discovered some weird facts, such as when Gov. Gifford Pinchot in 1924 sentenced a dog named Pep to life in prison for allegedly murdering his wife’s cat. Others say Pep was sent to prison to improve the inmates’ spirits.
Andrea Seitchik, the teacher who oversaw the project, said the students met during lunch and before and after school. They also communicated at night while online.
The students visited the prison twice, and Reidell brought some artifacts to school and offered constructive advice.
The eighth-graders were responsible for the brochures, while the sixth- and seventh-graders handled the movie and podcasts. They worked in teams of four or five.
Everybody agreed it was a team effort, with a mix of individuality. The finished products included brochures that looked different and podcasts that sounded different.
“As a teacher, it was a rewarding experience to work with them and learn with them,” Seitchik said.
Cali Chesterman and Tommy Khouang, both seventh-graders, teamed on a podcast that explained the “who, what and when” of the prison.
“It was fun,” Cali said. “I’ve never been here before. It’s old and different. It’s not something you see every day.”
Added Tommy: “It was a good experience. The structure is like a castle and was designed so people can’t escape.”
The sixth-graders who made the film were responsible for recording and editing a product that is being shown in one of the inmate’s cells.
“We wanted to make something that was informational and watchable,” said Joan Suh.
Reidell, the prison’s education director, said all the students should be proud of their effort.
“They did a fabulous job,” she said. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com