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The Unlocking History series uses extensive research culled from historical records while CDCR Time Capsule republishes historical documents as originally written.
Two cooks, incarcerated at different times and institutions, are the subjects of the second installment of this month’s Cemetery Tales....
In February 1975, the department launched a newspaper to keep employees informed about happenings statewide. This publication replaced Correctional News...
A swindling dentist and a deadly feud between neighbors are the first featured stories in this month’s Cemetery Tales series....
Read More About Cemetery Tales: Swindling dentist; Deadly feud
A photograph taken seven years ago inside a shuttered youth facility has reunited a former incarcerated person with a trophy...
Read More About Photograph reunites former incarcerated youth with trophy
Just outside the granite walls of Folsom State Prison is the Big House Museum, boasting a collection rich in corrections...
Read More About Folsom Prison’s Big House Museum preserves history
Editor’s note: In our ongoing effort to highlight staff from the department’s past, we salute Gladys Vasso and Eleanor Dieter....
Read More About From the archives: Meet Gladys Vasso, Eleanor Dieter
Tucked away in a dusty archival box, Inside CDCR came across multiple photographs of a doll dressed as a correctional...
Read More About 1987: Correctional officer doll wins at county fair
On March 22, 2010, Terri Gonzalez became the first female warden at California Men's Colony (CMC). At the time, she...
Read More About Terri Gonzalez was first female warden at CMC
Originally published in February 1985, this piece looks at the history of the California Rehabilitation Center (CRC), republished here as...
Read More About CRC History: From resort to hospital to prison
Juneteenth, the holiday marking when enslaved people in Texas learned they were free, came nearly two months after the Civil...