Leavenworth: Yesterday and Today Quiz

Answer: Kansas

Leavenworth U.S. Penitentiary was built near Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The town originated in 1827 when Colonel Henry Leavenworth was charged with the task of establishing a fort that would serve as a stopping point for wagon trains heading west on the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon Trail.

Answer: Prisoners from the existing military prison built the new penitentiary

St. Louis architect William S. Eames designed the new penitentiary. Construction began in 1897 and did not end until 1926 when the dome was placed on the top of the central section of the building. Daily, prisoners marched two and one-half miles from Ft. Leavenworth to the new site of the federal penitentiary. The work took a long time because the prisoners were unskilled and (understandably) less-than-enthusiastic workers.

Answer: Guards were expected to read the Bible to prisoners at least one hour a day

In 1899, Robert W. McClaughry became warden of the penitentiary and issued a rule book to guards and convicts alike. All of these expectations were part of the rule book except the one about Bible reading. Additionally, guards were required to work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, and had to find their own replacement in the event they could not work.

Answer: the use of fingerprints for prisoner identification

Until the science of fingerprinting, the most accurate way to determine a person's identity was the Bertillon system (an elaborate system of measuring body parts like arm length, ear size, and head circumference). According to legend, Leavenworth officials in 1903 noticed they had paperwork for two prisoners, Will West and William West.

The men were identical in appearance and had nearly identical Bertillon measurements. Only by studying their fingerprints could officials determine that these men were indeed two different people.

Some scholars doubt the truth of this story. What is certain is that after hearing instruction at the St. Louis World's Fair (1904) from Scotland Yard personnel on fingerprinting, Leavenworth officials began using fingerprinting as a means of identifying prisoners in late 1904. (Source: www.scafo.org/library/110105.html).

Answer: True

Yes, it's true. Apparently, the man's mother was dying of cancer, and he pleaded successfully with officials not to use his actual name to avoid humiliating her.

Answer: The Industrial Workers of the World

Members of the IWW (nicknamed "the Wobblies") were convicted of violating the Espionage and Sedition Act. They were sentenced to terms ranging from 6 months to 20 years.

Answer: Jack Johnson

Johnson was convicted of violating the Mann Act (The White-Slave Traffic Act) of 1910, which prohibited the interstate transport of females for immoral purposes. Johnson met a young woman (Lucille Cameron) in a brothel and persuaded her to travel with him.

He was black, and the fact that he was consorting with a white woman outraged some authorities. Even though he eventually married Cameron, he was still the first person convicted of breaking the Mann Act (Source: wikipedia.org). He was sentenced in 1920 and apparently became quite a celebrity to the other prisoners - and guards - at Leavenworth.

Answer: George "Machine Gun" Kelley

Kelley actually served two sentences at Leavenworth, one as a young man for smuggling alcohol onto an Indian reservation; the other at the end of his crime career for murder and robbery. He was first sent to Alcatraz; later he was sent to Leavenworth to complete his sentence. He died there in 1954 of a heart attack (Source: http://www.students.stedwards.edu/~cortiz/kelly.htm)

Answer: He was the Birdman of Alcatraz

As it turns out, the Birdman of Alcatraz never owned any birds while at Alcatraz. Before being moved to Alcatraz, Stroud was sentenced to time at Leavenworth, and while there, he began collecting and researching birds. Eventually he ran quite a successful business out of his Leavenworth prison cell, selling birds and bird supplies.

The real Robert Stroud is described as "evil, vile, and repugnant" (source: "The Big House"); in other words, very unlike his portrayal in the film "Birdman of Alcatraz" by Burt Lancaster.

He was eventually transferred to Alcatraz in 1942, where he was not allowed to continue his bird collection and enterprises. He did continue aviary research there.

Answer: Over $6 million

The UNICOR program at Leavenworth is the largest in the federal prison system. Apparently, prisoners vie for the opportunity to work in the textile, furniture, or printing factories at Leavenworth. There, they earn money and also learn valuable work skills that can be applied after their release from prison. In addition to UNICOR, Leavenworth provides prisoners with a variety of educational and recreational opportunities. Leavenworth has a long history of emphasizing a prisoner's rehabilitation.

Unless otherwise noted, the information for this quiz came from The History Channel's "The Big House: Leavenworth" (aired July 2006) and from the Leavenworth Area Development website (www.lvarea.com/data/usp_info.htm).