Unlocking History
Using extensive research culled from historical records, Inside CDCR explores the rich history of the people, places and programs that helped shape the modern state correctional system.
From the days of the first prison ships, CDCR has adapted to incarcerate females sentenced to state prison. Originally housed...
Read More About Photo Timeline: California Institution for Women
Warden Clinton Duffy in 1942 raised eyebrows when he hired the first black correctional officer at San Quentin State Prison....
Read More About Warden Pulley guided two prisons through tumultuous times
San Quentin State Prison is the oldest state correctional facility in California and Richard "Dick" Nelson has made it his...
Read More About Retired AW Nelson keeps prison history alive
Long before California state prisons established Investigative Services Units or the Office of Correctional Safety, staff used the tools and...
Read More About San Quentin undercover probe foils deadly 1891 plot
When inmates were received at state prisons, physical characteristics were noted as well as the inmate's occupation. An 1887 report...
Read More About Amalgamators, button makers and vaqueros: Jobs lost to time
There was little difference in clothing worn by custody staff and inmates during the 1850s at San Quentin. Over the...
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
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