“Shining A Light in a Dark House”: Riots, Rebellion, and the Politics of Penal Reform in Pennsylvania

Since the late eighteenth century, Pennsylvania’s penal reformers believed the primary goals of corrections were punishment and protection, ensured by custodial personnel who impose the strict discipline of people with histories of criminal behavior in an environment that restricts privacy and personal freedom. In 1953, correctional officers faced threats, assaults, and even being taken hostage during a riot at Western State Penitentiary in Pittsburgh, a facility with a long history of unrest. The Western uprising was historically significant because it led to a specially appointed commission of penologists and other professionals who investigated the riot and what caused it. More notably, in the spirit of Pennsylvania’s earlier reformers, the commission also made numerous recommendations that dramatically transformed and improved the state correctional system and are still evident in 2019.