Walnut Street Prison: Where Freedom Rang, For Some

by Maureen Iplenski

Prev Media 1 of 1 Next

Southwest Corner of Walnut Street Prison

In 2018, approximately four million people visited Independence Hall in Old City, Philadelphia. Four million people gazed at the Liberty Bell, explored the Museum of the American Revolution, and walked through the Constitution Center. Now a maze of museums, the square initially served as meeting place for America’s founding fathers. This is where the United States of America was born. Upon the ratification of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, America successfully seceded from the tyrannical rule of Great Britain. The chime of the Liberty Bell resonated through the city streets. The cheers of Philadelphia residents arose. Celebration was in order! However, as the city was celebrating the coming of freedom, merely one block away, the freedoms of numerous citizens were being revoked.

Steps away from Independence Hall, at the intersection of 6th & Walnut Streets stood the Walnut Street Jail, later to be named the Walnut Street Prison. With construction commencing in 1773, three years passed before prisoners were confined within its walls. Originally constructed as a housing facility for those facing trial but not yet convicted, the prison at Walnut Street increasingly served as a model for future prison systems due to its revolutionary design and penal practices. Commissioning Robert Smith, a renowned architect, to design the structure, the Walnut Street Prison was initially a simple U-shaped building, with enough space to hold multiple prisoners at a time.

In 1790, a penitentiary house was constructed within the courtyard of the prison. According to the Free Legal Encyclopedia: Vest to Water, the structure included a series of small cells, which were spacious enough to hold an individual prisoner. The cells’ walls were entirely made of a thick gray stone, thus making it nearly impossible for inmates to communicate with each other. Even windows were deemed a luxury. The only windows within the penitentiary house were located at the highest point of the wall; too high for prisoners to sneak a peek of the street. Those locked within the cells of the penitentiary house only saw one person: the guard who delivered their food. This method of imprisonment is known as solitary confinement; a punishment that was predominantly the product of American Quakers. Solitary confinement was intended to encourage prisoners to reflect upon their past deeds. While the prison environment was severe, inmates were able to enjoy the safety and cleanliness that was absent in past prisons. This technique became recognized as the Pennsylvania System.

Prior to the development of the Pennsylvania System, the city’s jails and prisons were viewed as filthy and overcrowded structures - a place where criminals were left to withstand inhumane conditions as punishment for their past acts. The Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons, now known as the Pennsylvania Prison Society, wished to reform this method of punishment. Many of the group’s founders were prominent members of the Religious Society of Friends. They believed that by displaying care and affection toward prisoners, the mindset of condemned criminals could be altered. Thus, members of the Prison Society, along with generous neighbors, often delivered baskets of bread and fresh clothing to the prisoners.

However, in 1777 – in the midst of the American Revolution, the British army seized Philadelphia. The Walnut Street Prison was snatched out of the hands of the local sheriff and used by the British to house prisoners of war. Under the supervision of Captain Cunningham, prisoners were forced to withstand gruesome conditions. According to Negley Teeters, an advocate for penal reform, Cunningham’s “chief amusement was to defeat the benevolent intention of the people of the city who sent in food to the patriotic prisoners, by…scattering the food over the filthy floor. He would chuckle to witness the degrading scramble of the poor wretches as they gathered it up, dirt and all, to mitigate the pangs of starvation.” Prisoners witnessed their neighbors drop dead while gnawing at the crust of stale bread. Meanwhile, Cunningham and his aide, Joshua Loring, used whips and heavy keys to display their superiority over the inmates. Those who died were dragged by the feet and thrown into the ditches near Potter’s Field. For eight months, these conditions ensued. Each morning inmates of the Walnut Street Prison awoke, not knowing if today they would die of starvation, die of torture, die of illness, or survive to see tomorrow. It is estimated that over 275 Americans held at the prison perished during Cunningham’s reign.

Upon his departure, normalcy returned. Prisoners were allowed three meals a day and were punished through labor rather than physical pain. The death of an inmate was an infrequent occurrence. Fear was no longer rampant. However, the imprisonment techniques implemented at Walnut Street Prison were not free of criticism. As solitary confinement became a common practice of punishment, those who witnessed this method were forced to confront the question: is psychological punishment more humane than physical punishment. Despite contrasting views among visitors and inmates, the Walnut Street Prison continued solitary confinement until its closure in 1838.