Discuss the features and creation of Cherry Hill. Include the reasoning behind its unique structures.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

At the Eastern Pennsylvania Prison, known as “Cherry Hill” for much of its 150 years of operation, the idea that inmates could be contaminated or corrupted by their fellow inmates was officially embraced. The Eastern Pennsylvania Prison was designed and built by the architect John Haviland, a relative newcomer from England. It cost three-quarters of a million dollars to build, which was an incredible expenditure for the time. It was the largest building in America in the 1820s (Alosi, 2008; Orland, 1975). The prison itself was huge, with seven massive stone spokes of cells radiating off of a central rotunda, as on a wheel. A 30-foot wall was constructed around the outside perimeter of the prison, thus physically and symbolically reinforcing the separation of the prison and its inhabitants from their community (Nagel, 1973). The cells were built large (15 by 7.5 feet with 12-foot ceilings), and those on the lowest tier had their own small outside exercise yard attached, so that inmates could do virtually everything in their cells (Harris, 1973; Orland, 1975). The cells had both hot water and flush toilets, reportedly the first public building in the country to have such amenities. There were 400 solitary cells in this prison (Orland, 1975). At first, inmates were not to work, but that dictate was later changed and they were allowed to work in their cells (Harris, 1973). The only contact inmates were to have with the outside was with the clergy and some vocational teachers: “The reading of the Scriptures would furnish the offender with the moral guidance necessary for reform” (Nagel, 1973, p. 7). They had no access to visitors or letters or newspapers. Even their exercise yards were surrounded by a high stone fence. When they were brought into the prison, were taken for showers, or to see the doctor, they had to wear a mask or a draped hood so as to maintain their anonymity and to prevent them from figuring out a way to escape (Alosi, 2008). As to how else they could occupy their time, “They made shoes, wove and dyed cloth products, caned chairs, and rolled cigars. Those products were sold to defray prison costs” (Roberts, 1997, p. 33).