History
Explore the stories of the people, places and programs that shaped today’s modern CDCR. Unlocking History uses extensive research culled from historical records while CDCR Time Capsule republishes historical documents as they were originally written.
Long before California state prisons established Investigative Services Units or the Office of Correctional Safety, staff used the tools and...
When inmates were received at state prisons, physical characteristics were noted as well as the inmate's occupation. An 1887 report...
In 1874, the Joint Commission of the Senate and Assembly reported on the condition of the State Prison at San...
There was little difference in clothing worn by custody staff and inmates during the 1850s at San Quentin. Over the...
A late 1870s report by the State Board of Health included a section on the conditions at San Quentin State...
Chaplains have long served the state to provide spiritual and moral guidance to those in California prisons and jails. They’ve...
Created by the Graphic Arts Vocational Program at Folsom State Prison, a 1961 brochure gave visitors a glimpse at the...
A 1923 souvenir program guide for San Quentin's annual New Year's celebration hearkens back to a time before modern films,...
Thirty years before Johnny Cash's concerts at Folsom Prison, the "Alton Giant" visited the institution while touring the west coast....
This is the story of the choices made by those wearing a badge and the stagecoach robbers fleeing the law....