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.
CDCR's photographic archive often leaves staff with more questions than answers. One such photo is that of First Lady Eleanor...
Correctional Officer Charles H. Jolly gave up his first career as a grocer after a devastating fire destroyed the Folsom...
Tiburcio Vasquez, an outlaw who plundered Central and Southern California for two decades, may owe his capture to a long...
From the days of the first prison ships, CDCR has adapted to incarcerate females sentenced to state prison. Originally housed...
Warden Clinton Duffy in 1942 raised eyebrows when he hired the first black correctional officer at San Quentin State Prison....
Long before California state prisons established Investigative Services Units or the Office of Correctional Safety, staff used the tools and...
When inmates were received at state prisons, physical characteristics were noted as well as the inmate's occupation. An 1887 report...
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...
Thirty years before Johnny Cash's concerts at Folsom Prison, the "Alton Giant" visited the institution while touring the west coast....