Honors Trip

In early November the Freshman Honors Program went to Philadelphia to do some historical sightseeing. We ventured to the city of brotherly love to visit Eastern State Penitentiary. It was eerie to say the least to set foot into an old penitentiary. I looked around at the crumbling walls and buildings I could not help but think of what must have happened behind these walls what kind of people set foot in the very spot I stood those thought only increased when we went into the buildings to see the jail cells that were inside. What it must have been like to be in this jail in its early days. Alone in a cell, by yourself for days on end. During our tour we learned about the penitentiary’s history. How it was revolutionary and influenced the architecture of countless penitentiary’s and jails. We also learned how the penitentiary had to grow and adapt to changes within it and outside, weather it was having to expand within its walls to accommodate for the increased number of prisoners, or change its entire system of solitary confinement for all of the prisoners. We heard stories of escapees and others who lived with in the walls. By the time we left we had a condensed knowledge of the penitentiary from its opening to when it was shut down. It was an interesting experience seeing a historical prison first hand, but eerie none the less.