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The Unlocking History series uses extensive research culled from historical records while CDCR Time Capsule republishes historical documents as originally written.
San Quentin and Folsom prisons each have a cemetery where many incarcerated people were buried, marked only with their inmate...
After witnessing the horrors of the Civil War, working as a police officer and finally serving as San Quentin hangman,...
Read More About Tragic tale of Amos Lunt, San Quentin executioner
Two inmate numbers on grave markers reveal the stories of a miner and a young gambler who landed at San...
The Division of Adult Parole Operations and its staff have evolved over the last 120 years, but the mission is...
Among the first parole agents were a fingerprint expert, a man involved in charitable causes, and a former deputy sheriff.
Thanks to the 1893 parole law, those serving sentences in California's two prisons were given an incentive to be on...
Read More About 1893 parole law reshapes California prison system
With people rushing west in the mid-1800s, food was scarce so some turned to raiding sea-bird nests, landing one man...
Prior to San Quentin Warden Hoyle arriving in 1907, volunteers were rare. Thanks to his reforms, and the volunteers who...
Read More About Warden Hoyle volunteers ensured lasting changes
When an early 1900s incarcerated patient at San Quentin was diagnosed with a terminal illness, the doctor prescribed a pet...
As DJJ transitions toward realignment to counties in the next 15 months, much of its storied history is being explored....