A photographic history of the Ohio Penitentiary, Ohio State Reformatory, Boys' Industrial School, and Camp Chase
With the opening of the Ohio State Reformatory in 1896, the state legislature had put in place "the most complete prison system, in theory, which exists in the United States." The reformatory joined the Ohio Penitentiary and the Boys Industrial School, also central-Ohio institutions, to form the first instance of "graded prisons; with the reform farm on one side of the new prison, for juvenile offenders, and the penitentiary on the other, for all the more hardened and incorrigible class." However, even as the concept was being replicated throughout the country, the staffs of the institutions were faced with the day-to-day struggle of actually making the system work.
For 30 years, David Meyers was employed in the adult and juvenile correctional systems of Ohio, including stints at the Ohio State Reformatory and Ohio Penitentiary. He was also closely involved with the Fairfield School for Boys. For this book, he was assisted by his daughter, Elise, a freelance writer and photographer who has grown up around correctional institutions. Many of the images in Central Ohio's Historic Prisons are from the Grandview Heights Public Library's Columbus Citizen/Citizen-Journal Collection. David is also the coauthor of Columbus: The Musical Crossroads.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Condominium Association, Inc.
a dramedy in two acts by
David Meyers
Coming soon:
The Hoboken Radio Catastrophe
a Jersey farce in two acts by
David Meyers
The Last Oz Story
a musical in two acts by
David Meyers & Scott Michal
Out-of-print:
Listen for the Jazz
Columbus Unforgettables
More Columbus Unforgettables
Columbus Unforgettables, Volume III
What the reviewers are saying:
“Prisons book author knows the nitty gritty,” writes Mike Harden in The Columbus Dispatch (11/04/2009). “Although Historic Prisons is, by its nature, largely anecdotal, its twisted little vignettes present a wickedly delicious tray of canapes:
• The two-time Olympic gold medalist and Ohio State professor put to death for killing a lover half his age after an aphrodisiac-fueled affair.
• Thomas "Yonnie" Licavoli, the Toledo gangster who pulled 37 years at the Ohio Pen for murder and then opened a stamp-collecting shop after parole that – many inmates contended – was launched by his access to century-old stamps on letters in old prison files.
• Esther Foster, the first woman hanged in Ohio. She is said to have pledged her body to medical science after a doctor promised her he would supply her with all the candy she could eat up to the minute the noose ended her sweets binge.
. . . [N]otions about progressive rehabilitation have always been a little like notions about socialism – they work fine in theory, but the people on the bottom of the pile don't live theoretically. The reality of their lives, though, makes for fascinating reading.”
“Book delves into history of region's prisons,” writes Kevin Parks in ThisWeek (10/28/09). “They say write what you know, and David Meyers certainly knows prisons. After graduating from Miami University with a degree in psychology, and being assured by many people that the degree would help him find no kind of job at all, Meyers found work at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, the "Dracula's Castle" referred to in chapter eight of the new book. Over the course of the next 30 years he worked as a psychologist and later as an administrator in various adult and juvenile facilities, including the old Ohio Penitentiary . .
“In meeting with some of her father's old colleagues to gather material for [the book], Elise Meyers said that she quickly came to realize her presence as more or less an outsider was pretty important. Things insiders didn't think were all that interesting about what goes on behind bars were often exactly what people would want to read about, she said. "I was especially interested in the more salacious stuff," she added. "If he'd done the book himself, it would have been for prison employees."
"Father-daughter team writes book on Ohio Prisons," Jami Kinton writes in the Mansfield News Journal . "From his first day working in a prison until his last after 30 years, David Meyers said, he was fascinated by Ohio's system. After collecting volumes of notes from the Ohio State Reformatory, the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus and the Boys' Industrial School in Lancaster, the Columbus man decided to write a book.
"The venture was an opportunity to clear up misconceptions about the prison system. It also offered the
chance to work on a project with his daughter, Elise..
"I'll be at the movies where there's a prison featured and I'll say, 'That could never ever happen,' but most people will watch it and say, 'Oh that must be right,' " she said. "I think people should read this just to inform themselves and become more aware."
