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Eastern State Penitentiary Trivia Quiz

Eastern State Penitentiary was groundbreaking in many ways. I'll try to give you clues so that if you have a good general knowledge, you should be able to guess most answers.

A multiple-choice quiz by ubermom. Estimated time: 9 mins.

Author
ubermom

Time
9 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
297,067

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
724

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Eastern State Penitentiary is located in this historic city, which also brought Americans their first hospital, medical school, zoo, fire insurance company, public library, bank, municipal water system, and post office.

Answer: (If you think of the man behind many of these firsts, you'll have a clue.)

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Question 2 of 10

2. One of the many firsts about Eastern State Penitentiary is evident in its very name. Which first is this? Hint

It was the first to keep prisoners in separate cells or "pens" rather than massing them together in large rooms.

It was the first -- and only -- penal institution to be designed for penitents, who admitted their guilt rather than going to trial. These remorseful prisoners were taught a trade rather than punished.

It was the first to be designed on a five-sided pentagonal plan.

It was the first "penitentiary" -- meant to inspire penance or remorse rather than to punish.

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Question 3 of 10

3. Eastern State Penitentiary brought a technological first to American public buildings. What was it? Hint

It was the first large public building with an intercom system.

It was the first large public building with flush toilets and central heating.

It was the first large public building with built-in gas lighting.

All of these.

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Question 4 of 10

4. One aspect of Eastern State Penitentiary was revolutionary, bringing to full fruition what had only been done on a small scale before, and inspiring the design of over 300 other prison facilities around the world. What was this innovative design factor? Hint

It was in a panopticon design, that allowed the guards in the central area to see into every cell.

It was the first facility to use barred gates and doors, rather than solid doors, thus allowing guards to see into the cells easily.

It had a system of mirrors -- later replaced with closed-circuit TV cameras -- that allowed guards in a central area to view all cell block areas.

The facility was built on a radial design, with all cell blocks visible from a central hub area.

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Question 5 of 10

5. Eastern State Penitentiary's revolutionary design and system drew visitors from all over the world, including Alexis de Tocqueville and Charles Dickens. Tocqueville approved of the central concept behind Eastern's design, believing it was humane and would achieve its noble ends. Dickens was appalled and pulled no punches in saying so. Time has proven Dickens right. What the reformers had intended as compassionate treatment of prisoners turned out to be cruel and damaging. What was this central concept? Hint

Total solitary confinement

Cold water "shock" treatments

Hard labor

Lobotomies

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Question 6 of 10

6. Perhaps Eastern State Penitentiary's most famous prisoner, this gangster served eight months there on a weapons charge in 1929. He donated sports uniforms to the facility, and in return was granted a luxurious cell which was rarely locked. Eventually the IRS caught up with him and he served six years in a federal prison.

Answer: (Think Scarface and Elliot Ness)

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Question 7 of 10

7. This bank robber, a famous prisoner of Eastern State Penitentiary, took credit for masterminding a breakout that won him roughly eight minutes of freedom in 1945. Had he been honest about his role in the breakout, he'd have possibly said that he was where he was on that April day "because that's where the tunnel is."

Answer: (Two Words)

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Question 8 of 10

8. Charles Yerkes was an American financier who played a major part in developing mass-transit systems in Chicago and London. He contributed nearly $300,000 to the University of Chicago to establish what would become known as the Yerkes Observatory, and had a crater on the moon named after him. What is his connection with Eastern State Penitentiary? Hint

He served time there in the 1870s.

He donated the funds to build a hospital wing.

He launched his financial career using inmate labor from Eastern State.

He spearheaded a public campaign to improve prison conditions.

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Question 9 of 10

9. In 1924, Prisoner Number C2559 was sentenced to life at Eastern State Penitentiary for killing a cat. Why was Prisoner Number C2559 given such a harsh sentence? Hint

He had an unusal skull shape, which phrenologists thought denoted a "murderous personality". He was locked up so his murderous urges wouldn't harm humans.

He had escaped from Eastern and killed the judge's cat as revenge.

He was believed to have murdered a child, but evidence was scanty, so he was prosecuted for the cat's death and given a harsh sentece for aggravating circumstances.

He was a dog, and the cat belonged the the Governor's wife.

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Question 10 of 10

10. Only one prisoner who escaped from Eastern State Penitentiary was never caught or otherwise returned to prison: Leo Callahan. Callahan was one of six inmates to make it out over the 30-foot-tall perimeter wall using a wooden ladder fashioned by George Brown, an inmate who worked in the carpentry shop. How did prisoners manage to hide a ladder that big? Hint

One of the inmates was a trusty who was able to stash the ladder in a maintenence shed, where it blended in with other equipment.

The ladder was made from sections disguised as small tables, which the inmates kept in their cells.

It was disguised as a pair of picnic tables for the exercise yard.

They didn't bother to hide it. They pretended they were using it to do roof repairs on Cell Block 4.

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: Philadelphia

Benjamin Franklin, who was instrumental in many of the famous firsts of Philadelphia, was one of the reformers to help make Eastern State Penitentiary.

2. One of the many firsts about Eastern State Penitentiary is evident in its very name. Which first is this?

Answer: It was the first "penitentiary" -- meant to inspire penance or remorse rather than to punish.

Prior to the building of Eastern State Penitentiary, prisoners were merely held in jails to await punishment, which was often brutal and humiliating. Eastern State was founded on the idea that everybody, no matter what hideous things he or she might have done, had a divine spark of goodness.

The idea of the penitentiary was to give the prisoner a chance to reflect on his or her crimes, to become penitent, and to reform.

3. Eastern State Penitentiary brought a technological first to American public buildings. What was it?

Answer: It was the first large public building with flush toilets and central heating.

When the Eastern State Penitentiary opened in 1829 it was the world's most expensive and 'high-tech' prison. Eastern State Penitentiary had flush toilets in every cell -- at a time when even the President of the United States was still using an outhouse and a chamber pot. Each cell block had a heat plant located at the end. Lighting was primarily via skylights in every cell.

Answer: The facility was built on a radial design, with all cell blocks visible from a central hub area.

The panopticon design has a central tower, surrounded by cells around the perimeter of the outside wall. Eastern State Penitentiary's isolation system wouldn't allow for such viewing. Eastern State Penitentiary also originally had solid hatches between the prisoners and the guards. And though mirrors were used for monitoring cell blocks, these were added later, when additional cell blocks were added that did not radiate from the hub.

Answer: Total solitary confinement

Prisoners entered their cells through individual exercise yards. There was no door into the cell block hallway, just a hatch that food and tools could be passed through. Prisoners spent 23 hours a day indoors, and were let out for 1/2 hour each morning and evening, with no adjacent prisoners to be in their high-walled exercise yards at one time. Guards wore socks over their shoes to muffle their footsteps, and the food cart's wheels were covered with leather to reduce sound.

The walls were 18 inches thick. Prisoners were allowed no visitors or letters, and the only reading material was a King James Bible. Attempts to communicate were punished severely.

In his "American Notes", Dickens wrote, "I hold this slow and daily tampering with the mysteries of the brain to be immeasurably worse than any torture of the body...."

Answer: Al Capone

A newspaper article described Capone's cell: "The whole room was suffused in the glow of a desk lamp which stood on a polished desk.... On the once-grim walls of the penal chamber hung tasteful paintings, and the strains of a waltz were being emitted by a powerful cabinet radio receiver of handsome design and fine finish."

Answer: Willie Sutton

The breakout was actually the brainchild of mild-mannered Clarence Klinedinst, with help from his cellmate, William Russell. Various other prisoners provided support in the form of materials or acting as lookouts. Klinedinst, a mason by trade, managed to build a tunnel fifteen feet down and ninety-seven feet over, equipped with lights and shored with wood bracing. A dozen prisoners made it through the tunnel and out onto Fairmount Avenue. Eleven were recaptured. The twelfth, James Grace, came knocking on the prison door days later, asking to be let back in.

Sutton, by the way, denies ever telling anybody that he robbed banks "because that's where the money is." But, he admitted, he would have said it had he thought of it.

Answer: He served time there in the 1870s.

Yerkes was convicted of larceny and sentenced to thirty-three months in Eastern State Penitentiary. He tried blackmail to avoid prison, but was locked up anyway. After serving seven months he was able to gain a pardon by agreeing to deny some of the accusations he had made against prominent politicians.

9. In 1924, Prisoner Number C2559 was sentenced to life at Eastern State Penitentiary for killing a cat. Why was Prisoner Number C2559 given such a harsh sentence?

Answer: He was a dog, and the cat belonged the the Governor's wife.

Governor Gifford Pinchot sentenced his black Labrador retriever, Pep, to life at Eastern State. The sentence appeared to be part of a publicity stunt. Pep accompanied guards on their rounds, and was taken to live at the new Graterford Penitentiary when it was opened in 1929. His inmate number, C2559, was never given to a human prisoner.

Answer: The ladder was made from sections disguised as small tables, which the inmates kept in their cells.

Callahan was one of five inmates who took part in a plan masterminded by inmate George Brown in 1923. The tables seemed innocent enough in the cells or in the exercise yard, where prisoners would play chess or checkers. The six sections snapped together.

They held up well enough for the men to make it over the wall, even though they were coming apart even as the men climbed up. There is still a warrant out for Callahan's arrest, though he'd be over 100 years old.

Source: Author ubermom

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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