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CDCR History

Explore the stories of the people, places and programs shaping today’s  CDCR. The Unlocking History series uses extensive research culled from historical records while CDCR Time Capsule republishes historical documents as they were originally written.

Man opens car door.

1975: LA Parole Agent Harvey Watson is on the job

In 1975, the department profiled Los Angeles Parole Agent Harvey Watson. He'd been an agent for three years and before...

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Prison warden stands beside a scale model of Wasco State Prison.

1991: Wasco State Prison and Reception Center opens doors

1991: Wasco acting Warden Mike Carillo said, “It was a team effort. I’m extremely pleased with the assignment. This is...

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Men place time capsule in cornerstone of prison building.

California Medical Facility was first prison hospital

California Medical Facility (CMF) in Vacaville has a history stretching back to southern California and a former federal prison that...

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Tents sit among hills and forest.

Highway camps paved way for Sierra Conservation Center

Inmates currently training as firefighters at Sierra Conservation Center (SCC) can trace the program’s roots to 1915 and the state’s...

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Royal Air Force pilots stand at attention in Lancaster.

DVI can trace history to British WWII air field

Training incarcerated men in aircraft engine repair at Deuel Vocational Institution (DVI) can trace the program’s history to World War...

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Grainy photo of correctional training center as a Catholic school.

Correctional Training Center was once a Catholic seminary

Surrounded by pastures, nestled just outside the small northern California town of Galt, sits the Richard A. McGee Correctional Training...

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Three people stand around an open metal box.

Time capsule links Sierra Conservation Center’s past, present and future

On a recent warm summer day, employees at Sierra Conservation Center gathered to crack open a time capsule that had...

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Old barracks and Quonset huts made up the original Correctional Training Facility at Soledad.

Correctional Training Facility’s past runs from Hollywood to Disney

The Correctional Training Facility at Soledad can be found in the fertile Salinas Valley. Built in 1946 to ease overcrowding...

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Photo taken 80 years ago shows men standing at San Quentin prison gate, waiting to be transported to a new prison.

Rehabilitation at heart of California Institution for Men

California Institution for Men (CIM) was created in 1941, becoming the fourth state facility to house inmates. CIM was designed...

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Pine Grove youth inmate firefighters.

Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp continues tradition of training young offenders

Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp was established in 1945 but the original camp began a decade earlier as part of...

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