 
Assembly Resolution No. 414
 
BY: M. of A. Finch
 
        COMMEMORATING  the  200th  Anniversary  of  Auburn
        Correctional Facility
 
  WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to  recognize  and
honor  those  state  prisons  and  their  leadership that strengthen the
quality and character of  life  in  this  great  Empire  State,  and  to
commemorate the histories of such correctional facilities; and
 
  WHEREAS,  Attendant  to  such  concern,  and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this  Legislative  Body  is  justly  proud  to
commemorate the 200th Anniversary of Auburn Correctional Facility, to be
celebrated on Saturday, August 12, 2017, in conjunction with the City of
Auburn's Annual Founder's Day; and
 
  WHEREAS,  Auburn  Correctional  Facility is a maximum security state
prison which houses adult males in Cayuga  County,  and  has  a  current
capacity of 1,821 individuals; and
 
  WHEREAS,  Auburn  Correctional  Facility, located on State Street in
Auburn, New York, is one of the oldest functional prisons in the  United
States;  Auburn Correctional Facility was the second state prison in New
York, after New York City's Newgate Prison (1797-1828), and it was  also
the site of the first execution by electric chair in 1890; and
 
  WHEREAS,  Furthermore,  Auburn  Correctional  Facility  is where the
namesake of the "Auburn System" was created; and
 
  WHEREAS, Auburn Correctional Facility was  constructed  in  1817  as
Auburn Prison, and was built on land by the Owasco River that was once a
Cayuga village; and
 
  WHEREAS,  The  land  on  which  the Auburn Correctional Facility was
built was used during the War of 1812 as a British prisoner-of-war camp;
after the war, the State of New York accepted the  land  as  a  donation
from local citizens due to its available water power; and
 
  WHEREAS,  On  June  22,  1816,  a  little more than six acres and 20
perches of land was given to the  State  by  Samuel  Dill,  David  Hyde,
Ebenezer Beach and John H. Beach; these individuals allowed the State to
build  a dam across the outlet and retain half the water power produced;
and
 
  WHEREAS, Six days later on June 28, 1816, the southeast  cornerstone
of the wall of the Auburn Correctional Facility was laid; and
 
  WHEREAS, Auburn soon prospered from the prison business; $20,000 was
spent  in the first season of work, and the construction of the facility
employed numerous builders from the area and abroad; and
 
  WHEREAS,  By  the  winter  of  1817,  the  south  wing   of   Auburn
Correctional  Facility  was ready to receive inmates, and the work moved
forward rapidly after 53 men from jails of adjacent counties  were  sent
 
to aid in the construction, and later, 87 more men were received in 1818
for the same purpose; and
 
  WHEREAS,  In  1821,  Auburn  Correctional  Facility's north wing was
completed, and it became the model for most American prisons; the  south
wing was subsequently rebuilt on the same plan; and
 
  WHEREAS,  Auburn  Correctional  Facility  had  produced  a  type  of
cellblock that found many imitators across the  country  and  influenced
prison architecture for the next century; and
 
  WHEREAS,  Work on the Auburn Correctional Facility continued, and in
1823, the massive main hall  and  wings,  extensive  workshops,  and  an
enclosing  wall  measuring 20 feet high, had been completed at a cost of
$400,000; and
 
  WHEREAS, Auburn Correctional Facility is where  the  development  of
the American penal system initially began; during the 1820s, a system of
prison  administration  arose  and,  for  a  century,  wielded  a strong
influence upon prisons and reformatories throughout the world; and
 
  WHEREAS; Auburn Correctional Facility segregated prisoners by offense,
and they were issued clothing that identified their crime; additionally,
the traditional American prison uniform consisting of  horizontal  black
and white stripes originated in the Auburn facility; and
 
  WHEREAS, The "Auburn System," coined for the disciplinary strategies
used  at Auburn Correctional Facility, was a system developed by William
Brittin, John D. Cray, and Elam Lynds; and
 
  WHEREAS, Prisoners under the "Auburn System" were housed in solitary
confinement in large rectangular buildings, and  performed  penal  labor
under  silence  that  was  enforced  at  all  times;  the profits of the
inmates' labor were then used to help support the prison; and
 
  WHEREAS, Since the 1920s, every official New York license plate  has
been made behind prison walls in Auburn; and
 
  WHEREAS, Today, Auburn Correctional Facility offers other vocational
programs  which include building and custodial maintenance, flooring and
installation, drafting, electrical, masonry, general business, painting,
and welding; and
 
  WHEREAS, Inmates  at  the  Auburn  Correctional  Facility  can  also
receive  adult basic education and GED courses, and take college classes
offered by the College Prison Education Program at  Cornell  University,
as well as courses in an associate degree program offered through Cayuga
Community College; now therefore, be it
 
  RESOLVED,  That  this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 200th Anniversary of Auburn Correctional  Facility;  and
be it further
 
  RESOLVED,  That  a  copy  of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted  to  Michael  Pettigrass,  Committee  Chairman   of   Auburn
Correctional Facility.
Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of Auburn Correctional Facility

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