Thank you for your interest in researching Eastern State Penitentiary and/or its inhabitants! We receive many requests for information, and try to help whenever possible; but our collection is relatively small, and there are many other resources that may help you learn everything you’d like to learn. The Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg, PA, houses the most comprehensive collection of original records from Eastern State Penitentiary (click here to see a list of Prison Records at the State Archives or here to see holdings specifically related to Eastern State.). The State Archives, Eastern State Penitentiary, and other repositories may be able to conduct research for you for a fee. For information about having our staff conduct a search for you or to contact us, please scroll to the bottom of the page.
We have outlined some of the best resources available for genealogists and researchers below (including some that are available for free from your home computer) to help you get started.
Lesson plans for school teachers are also available on our website.
Supporters of Eastern State have made these informational histories available to you for free. Click the links to view.
The Eastern State staff often relies on newspaper accounts to create programs on site. Searching for newspapers is fun, and is made increasingly easy through online databases. When searching, keep in mind that names are often misspelled and you may want to try several variations. Also, try searching for various keywords, dates, and names of people involved in the case to find the best results. Remember that Eastern State was called by different names throughout its history (e.g. Cherry Hill, Eastern State Penitentiary, Eastern Penitentiary, the penitentiary in Philadelphia, etc.).
Click here to find out how to obtain a card to the Free Library of Philadelphia.
There are a surprising number of books with information about Eastern State and its inhabitants.
At Google Books, type in "annual report of the inspectors," (use quotation marks) and the first link will be an edition of the report. Click “more editions” for the full run of what’s available. You may be able to determine the inmate’s number by looking at these reports. The University of Pennsylvania has additional years and hard copies of many of these books. Click here for UPenn’s library catalog. Search for “Annual report of the Eastern State Penitentiary” (use quotation marks) to see the record.
Also at Google Books, type in “a concise history of the eastern penitentiary,” (use quotation marks) and you’ll see the minority report of an investigation of the penitentiary published in 1835 by Thomas McElwee (ESP staff often refers to this document at “The McElwee Report”). This book provides an in-depth look into the general conditions of the penitentiary in its early years.
At Google Books, type in "warden cassidy on prisons," (use quotation marks) and you’ll see a book written by Warden Michael Cassidy in 1897. This document contains a lot of information about the penitentiary in general in 1897 as well as some photographs.
We offer a service to have one of our staff members search our archives for information regarding a specific inmate.
We do not recommend this service for inmates admitted after 1940, since we have very few records from that period. Our records concerning individual guards are even more limited. There is no guarantee that any search we conduct will come up with information on a specific inmate. If you contact us before sending in your request, our staff will be able to help you decide whether it will be best for you to begin your research at Eastern State or another repository.
Genealogy research costs $10 for members of the historic site (see below), and $25 for non-members. Please send a check made payable to “Eastern State Penitentiary,” and provide as much of the following information as possible:
Click here to become a member.
If you have questions, would like us to conduct a search for you, or would like to make an addition to our resources list, please contact us!
Eastern State Penitentiary Archives
2027 Fairmount Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19130
eh@easternstate.org
(215) 236-5111 x23
