The fourth facility in the California state prison system opened 80 years ago. The institution was geared toward people who were considered low-risk. Built in Chino, California Institution for Men received its first San Quentin transfers on July 10, 1941.
1940s: CIM opened doors 80 years ago
California Institution for Men, circa 1940s. (CDCR file photo.) Kenyon Scudder, first superintendent of CIM. (CDCR file photo.) The first busload of men leave San Quentin for CIM in 1941. Warden Clinton Duffy can be seen giving the men a pep talk. (California State Library.)
The success of the California Institution for Women, and its efforts to rehabilitate through a more rural setting, prompted the state to try a similar program for fist-timers.
CIM’s first superintendent, Kenyon Scudder, implemented many policies that would eventually spread throughout the department. One was the central file, a single place where all information related to an incarcerated person was to be kept.
“In our efforts to interview men at San Quentin who were to be transferred to Chino, we had experienced a terrific problem trying to get information about them, for it was scattered throughout the prison,” Scudder wrote in the 1952 book, “Prisoners are People.”
“At CIM, we developed a central file, where all information about each man was in one folder and we also set up a classification committee,” he wrote.
With the war effort underway by December 7, 1941, Scudder focused rehabilitative training on farm-related jobs. Agriculture has long been a major industry in California. With so many serving overseas, there was a desperate need for experienced farm workers and mechanics. “We started intensive training in repair, upkeep and operation of all types of farm machinery,” Scudder wrote.
1950s & 1960s
California Institution for Men, circa 1950s. (CDCR file photo.) CIM administration building, undated. (CDCR file photo.) A typical CIM cell, undated. (CDCR file photo.) California Institution for Men, undated. (CDCR file photo.) California Institution for Men, circa 1950s. (CDCR file photo.) Correctional officer at CIM, circa 1960s. (CDCR file photo.) California Institution for Men, circa late 1950s. (CDCR file photo.) An officer checks the food at CIM, undated. (CDCR file photo.) Visit to CIM, circa 1951. (University of Southern California.)
1970s to 1990s
Los Angles Philharmonic Orchestra music director Zubin Mehta visits CIM, April 1975. (CDCR file photo.) California Institution for Men Warden Mike Pickett, 1991. (CDCR file photo.) California Institution for Men, 1984. CIM celebrated 50 years of service, 1991. (CDCR file photo.) CIM, circa 1980s. (CDCR file photo.)
80 years of vocational education
Clothing factory at CIM, circa 1958. (CDCR file photo.) Sewing machine repair class at CIM, undated. (CDCR file photo.) Students learn cabinetry at CIM, undated. (CDCR file photo.) Agriculture played a large role in the early years of CIM, undated. (CDCR file photo.) CIM vocational education.
By Don Chaddock, Inside CDCR editor
Office of Public and Employee Communications
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