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The Unlocking History series uses extensive research culled from historical records while CDCR Time Capsule republishes historical documents as originally written.
In 1951, a young man named Alfredo Santos was busted for dealing heroin, earning him a stint at San Quentin...
Read More About San Quentin historic murals launched artist’s career
Folsom Correctional Officer Lyle Herman, Jr., died June 29, 1988, after suffering head injuries when he intervened during a robbery.
Read More About 1988: Officer Lyle Herman slain trying to stop robbery
A popular 1958 television game show featured San Quentin Warden Fred Dickson as one of the contestants. In “To Tell...
Read More About 1958: San Quentin warden competes on game show
Superintendent Roland Wood forged a revolutionary program in 1962 at California Rehabilitation Center (CRC), treating drug addicts as patients rather...
Read More About First CRC superintendent took non‑punitive approach
Archibald Yell, the new warden at Folsom State Prison, sought to stop contraband, improve job prospects for the incarcerated population,...
"Twenty years ago, the only place you would see a female in a male prison was in an office behind...
Read More About 1989: Director declares women a major force in corrections
"Folsom recently hired the department's first full-time women firefighters. Marianne Breeland and Kathy Williams, both former correctional officers, transferred to...
Read More About 1989: First full‑time women firefighters hired in department
"As he left the stands at the conclusion of San Quentin's seventeenth annual field and track meet, Warden James B....
A yellowed, typed spreadsheet titled "Report of Inmates, Women's Ward, San Quentin Prison, May 1922" gives some insight into the...
A 1921 Folsom Prison inspection report, penned by Agent AC Jensen, landed on the Inside CDCR desk. Photographs and detailed...