CDCR History
CDCR California prison history explores the stories of the people, places and programs that shaped the current state penal system. Within the CDCR History category, there are two sub-categories. The Unlocking History series uses extensive research culled from historical records while CDCR Time Capsule republishes historical documents as originally written.
A late 1870s report by the State Board of Health included a section on the conditions at San Quentin State...
Read More About Medical inspection shows 1878 San Quentin conditions
Chaplains have long served the state to provide spiritual and moral guidance to those in California prisons and jails. They’ve...
Read More About Having faith: A look back at prison chaplains
Created by the Graphic Arts Vocational Program at Folsom State Prison, a 1961 brochure offers a glimpse of rehabilitation programs...
A 1923 souvenir program guide for San Quentin's annual New Year's celebration hearkens back to a time before modern films,...
Read More About 1923: Booklet offers glimpse into SQ New Year’s celebration
Thirty years before Johnny Cash's concerts at Folsom Prison, the "Alton Giant" visited the institution while touring the west coast....
Read More About When the world’s tallest man visited Folsom Prison
This is the story of the choices made by those wearing a badge and the stagecoach robbers fleeing the law....
Read More About Stagecoach bandits crossed paths with California prisons
Since the founding of the state prison system in the early 1850s, the incarcerated population have been allowed special concessions...
Read More About Prisons observed Thanksgiving with meals, sports
From food stores to work routines, the 1857 Appendix to the Assembly Journals included detailed descriptions of the inner workings...
Read More About 1857: Records shed light on early San Quentin
A 1956 report of the state prison library program emphasized education, rehabilitation and personal growth. The report was written by...
Read More About 1956: Prison library program is rehabilitation cornerstone
In 1911, a California aviator took to the skies for his own record-setting flight, including two flyovers of San Quentin...
Read More About San Quentin was foggy witness to historic 1911 flight