_By_ LEWIS F. PILCHER, _New York State Architect_
(Reprinted by permission from the _American Architect_ of
January 28, 1920)
The more advanced of the modern penologists are rapidly discarding the
old theory that a certain humanity and kindliness should be eliminated
from society’s dealings with its less responsible citizens. They are
substituting in its place the idea that the majority of criminals are
not inherently bad, but, lacking the idealistic principles of good
citizenship which result from environment and education, are only
wayward.
If we accept this new theory, and make negligible the assumption that
most criminals have inherited a tendency toward wrong-doing, it becomes
necessary for us to revise many of our ideas concerning the government,
discipline and housing of prisoners, and to acquire an impressionable
quality of mind susceptible to new theories and experiments which
concern the welfare and advancement of our less fortunate fellow men.
With all these things in mind, and with the desire to do our part in
ameliorating prison government, the Commission on New Prisons has
endeavored, in the building of the Wingdale Prison, to achieve a good
architectural result combined with these essential reforms. In order
that these aims may be fully understood, I shall attempt to explain
both the architectural plan of this new prison and the reasons for
selecting a sloping rather than a level topographical site.