_By_ HASTINGS H. HART, LL.D.
Alabama was the last of the Southern States to retain the convict
lease system. The system has been very profitable, having produced for
several years past more than $1,000,000 per year of net revenue.
The last legislature decreed the abandonment of the convict lease
system in January, 1924, and in preparation for this change the State
has undertaken the construction of the most elaborate prison in the
south, with the possible exception of the United States Prison in
Atlanta.
Under the laws of the State the prison managers have authority to
expend the revenues from convict labor for land and improvements.
Acting under this authority, Gov. Thomas E. Kilby; Hon. C. B. Rogers,
President of the State Board of Control; and Dr. William F. Feagin,
Warden General of the penitentiary system, have united in the effort to
perfect a model southern prison.
The general plan of this prison was suggested by the Minnesota State
Prison, with the important change, however, of adopting the outside
cell system instead of the interior cage system. The adoption of
the outside cell plan of construction increases the opportunity for
escapes; therefore the prison wall surrounds the entire prison. None of
the buildings except the office building is on the outer wall.
Following the example of the United States Government prison at
Atlanta, the cells above the first tier are constructed to accommodate
five prisoners each. The lower cells for one man each are of generous
capacity, 7 feet wide, 10 feet long, and 8½ feet high, with an outside
window for every cell, and elaborate ventilation system.
Alabama has about 3,000 prisoners. The new prison is designed to
accommodate 800 men, with plans for enlargement to double that
capacity. The remainder of the State convicts will probably be kept,
as heretofore, in prison camps and employed on State farms. It is
probable that the prison at Speigner, with the State cotton mill, will
be continued, at least for the present.
[Illustration: FRONT ELEVATION]
The employment of prisoners in the cotton-mill industry has been
successfully tested at Speigner, and it is purposed to establish a new
cotton mill at Kilby Prison which will employ the greater part of
the prisoners. It is proposed to manufacture cotton cloth suitable
for shirting and to establish a shirt factory where the cloth will be
manufactured into shirts for the market. The manufacturing will be on
State account, the shirts to be sold at a contract price agreed upon in
advance under certain standards of quality.
A large farm is attached to the prison where a model dairy has already
been constructed with a herd of 90 Guernsey cows and an extensive
piggery.
It is expected that this new departure will bring Alabama from the rear
of the procession in prison administration to the front rank.
Notes on the Design and Construction of Kilby Prison,
Near Montgomery, Alabama
_By_ MARTIN J. LIDE, _Engineer and Architect_
Kilby Prison is designed essentially as an industrial prison. There are
about 3,000 State convicts in Alabama. The labor of the majority of
these heretofore has been leased out, principally to mining and lumber
corporations. The State is poor in revenue and backward in education.
It is, therefore, essential that these convicts be put to productive
work in order that they may be at least self-sustaining. By act of the
Legislature the leasing of convicts must cease after January, 1924. In
order to receive these convicts from the mines and lumber camps and to
place them into productive work this prison is being constructed.
As will be noted from the ground plan, the prison, exclusive of the
administration building, is contained within a surrounding walled
enclosure. The wall is about 20 feet high, 12 inches thick at the top,
and 20 inches thick at the bottom, and sits on a concrete mat 6 feet
wide. At the four corners of the wall are concrete guard towers, and on
one side there is a lock gate 120 feet long, equipped with steel doors
suspended with rollers. The walls are 1,000 feet long at the front and
are 1,200 feet long on the sides. The wall is constructed in sections
30 feet long. Expansion is taken care of by the construction joints.
During cool weather these joints were painted with tar, the thickness
of the coating depending on the temperature at the time of the pouring.
The concrete aggregate was mixed in the proportion of 1: 2: 4 parts
of cement, sand, and gravel, the sand and gravel being mined on the
property by the State. At the top of the wall four strands of barbed
wire are mounted, alternate strands being charged to a potential of
6,600 volts, and the other strands being grounded. The connections to
these strands are such that in case the charged wire is either cut or
short circuited, an electric siren will blow.
It will be noted from the ground plan that the administration building
is in front of the prison on the outside of the walls. Thus all
free office employees work outside the prison. The administration
building is a one-story building of brick and concrete. Connecting the
Administration Building with the cell house is a corridor flanked on
either side by rooms whose purposes are set forth in the ground plan
drawing.