Shanks, shivs and mugshots, oh my! This month, you can check out all this and more as Eastern State Penitentiary highlights the prison paths of retaliation and reform during its “Pop-Up Museum: Sin and Salvation” in Philadelphia.
Between April 12 and 22, the former prison’s second annual pop-up museum will showcase historic treasures rarely displayed to the public. Exploring the contrast between sin and salvation, the pop-up museum will include exhibits like an extensive collection of inmate-crafted shanks alongside photos of religious services held within the prison.
Other exhibits include inmate-written magazines, “agitator cards” featuring the prison’s rule breakers, wanted posters for the prison’s escapees, an ornate chalice and a chaplain’s suitcase. While the penitentiary has long cared for these prison artifacts, the lack of museum-quality climate control has made it difficult to display these relics to the public.
The historic prison is now a haunting ruin of its former self, which once stood as the world’s most famous and expensive prison, having housed the likes of mob boss Al Capone and bank robber “Slick Willie” Sutton. Today, the crumbling cellblocks and abandoned towers are open to the public year-round, and admission to the pop-up museum is included with regular admission to the penitentiary.
While you’re visiting Eastern State Penitentiary, don’t miss your chance to be guided through the ground and history by actor Steve Buscemi through the “The Voices of Eastern State” audio tour. Al Capone’s cell is also on display, as are the prison’s operating room, dining hall, isolation cells, and death row exercise yard.
Hands-on experiences include bocce ball (which inmates played during the incarceration), an opportunity to unlock one of the prison’s “escape-proof” cell doors and opening the penitentiary’s heavy front gate.
Admission to Eastern State Penitentiary is $14 for adults and $10 for kids ages 7-12 (not recommended for kids younger than 7). For more information, check out the Eastern State Penitentiary website.
(Main image: Artondra Hall)
