Rahway State Prison
Encyclopedia
East Jersey State Prison (EJSP), originally Rahway State Prison, was established in 1896 as the first reformatory in New Jersey. It is a maximum-security institution operated by the New Jersey Department of Corrections
, housing approximately 1,900 men .
The prison is actually located in Avenel
in Woodbridge Township
, at the border with Rahway
. The prison's mailing address is in Rahway. The prison's official name was changed to East Jersey State Prison as of November 30, 1988, at the request of the citizens of Rahway. The prison's large dome is a landmark that can be seen from various parts surrounding, including US Route 1-9
and New Jersey Transit
's North Jersey Coast Line
trains.
voted to establish the state’s first reformatory. A year later, construction began at Rahway on state property known as Edgar Farm. The prison opened in 1901 and originally housed male offenders between the ages of 16 and 30 who were first-time offenders.
The first superintendent, J. E. Heg, served only a year. He was succeeded by Joseph W. Martin who led the institution until his death in 1909. Martin was succeeded by Dr. Frank Moore, until he retired in 1929.
The administration building, cell houses, schoolrooms, chapel, shops, and other buildings were surrounded by a large wall encompassing 21 acres (84,984.1 m²). The entire prison was surrounded by hundreds of acres of farmland that the inmates worked. By 1908, there were two four-tiered cell houses. One cell house contained 256 cells measuring 9’ x 5’ x 8.6’, while the other had 384 cells that were only 7.1’ x 5’ x 8’. A 1928 inspection reported that the cells were equipped “with a fair quality of toilet and lavatory.”
The inmates’ day at Rahway consisted primarily of school and work. They woke at 5:45 a.m. with lights out at 9 p.m. Those who had to attend school went to classes half the day and worked the other half. Vocational training and jobs were offered, including tailoring, cooking, shoemaking, printing, electrical work, farming/gardening, plumbing, and painting.
In 1930, construction began on additions to the institution. Between 1931 and 1932, industrial and laundry buildings were added. A new dormitory wing, “Two Wing,” was built in 1932. It contained two dormitories housing 150 men each, thereby increasing the prison’s capacity to 900 inmates. In 1951, Rahway’s capacity was furthered increased to 1,000, when the last wing, “Three Wing,” was constructed. As years passed, renovation on the institution continued. In 1967, one of the old buildings was improved and made into “Five Wing.” From 1985 to 1988, trailers were erected and old buildings renovated (textile and laundry) for housing and dining facilities. These new additions became “Six, Seven, and Eight Wings.”
On Thanksgiving Day in 1971, five hundred inmates held six hostages, including the warden, for 24 hours. Six officers were injured, three with stab wounds in the early hours of the riot. The inmates demanded a more sufficient diet, regulation of commissary prices, improvement of the educational system and vocation training, better discipline of officers, and additional medicine supplies including aspirin. Ultimately, the prison was retaken with no loss of life and the captives were set free without the use of firearms.
On August 11, 1972, three convicted murderers escaped by sawing the bars of a third floor window. Later three officers were suspended for being responsible. In August 1980, in an effort to reduce the numbers of escapes, prisoners were issued gray prison uniforms.
The Education Department of East Jersey State Prison offers a variety of programs to the inmates. Vocational training courses include auto-body, auto mechanics, culinary arts, painting and decorating, and horticulture. The prison offers primary education (A.B.E. Course) and secondary education (GED) courses to the inmates. Inmates who are high school or GED graduates can take college classes offered through Union County College’s “Project Inside” program.
who were at one time incarcerated there. Former middleweight contender Rubin Carter
, freed in 1985 after being sentenced to two consecutive life terms, was featured in the 1975 Bob Dylan
song "Hurricane
" and the 1999
film The Hurricane. Dwight Muhammad Qawi
became a two-time world champion after leaving Rahway. A contemporary of Qawi, James Scott
, was a title contender of the same era who fought many times inside the prison itself, including a fight against Qawi in 1981.
The prison served as the filming location for the 1978 Academy Award winning documentary Scared Straight!
The prison
is also the birthplace of the Lifers' Group, in which prison inmates participate in a government-sponsored hip hop music
program, recording such songs as "The Real Deal" and "Belly of the Beast" to discourage children from becoming criminals. It released an album and EP on the Walt Disney Company's Hollywood Records
during the 1990s.
The prison's distinctive architecture, with its large dome and imposing metal gates, has appeared in many films including Lock Up
, Crazy Joe, Rounders, Malcolm X, He Got Game
, The Hurricane
, and Ocean's Eleven
.
The prison is mentioned in the beginning of episode 104 of Arrested Development. George Bluth is concerned for his prison's softball team because they are "playing Rahway next week".
The prison is also shown in season 2 of the television show Chuck.
"Rahway Prison" is mentioned in the lyrics of the Traveling Wilburys
1988 song "Tweeter and the Monkey Man
", and "Rahway State" is mentioned in the lyrics of the East River Pipe
song "Where Does All The Money Go?".
The prison is mentioned in the Flavor of Love 3 episode, "Neverwed Game." Guest star Arsenio Hall
comments on Flav's clothes, saying that Flav looks good in the color orange, as long as it does not say "Rahway" across the front.
In the first season of Boardwalk Empire, Michael Shannon
as agent Nelson Van Alden, uses the threat of 10 years of hard labor in Rahway, as means of getting information from a young man he is interrogating.
New Jersey Department of Corrections
The New Jersey Department of Corrections is responsible for operations and management of prison facilities in the U.S. state of New Jersey...
, housing approximately 1,900 men .
The prison is actually located in Avenel
Avenel, New Jersey
Avenel is a census-designated place and unincorporated area within Woodbridge Township, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 17,552...
in Woodbridge Township
Woodbridge Township, New Jersey
-Communities:Many distinct communities exist within Woodbridge Township. Several of these communities have their own ZIP codes, and many are listed by the United States Census Bureau as census-designated places, but they are all unincorporated areas and neighborhoods within the Township that,...
, at the border with Rahway
Rahway, New Jersey
Rahway is a city in southern Union County, New Jersey, United States. It is part of the New York metropolitan area, being 15 miles southwest of Manhattan and five miles west of Staten Island...
. The prison's mailing address is in Rahway. The prison's official name was changed to East Jersey State Prison as of November 30, 1988, at the request of the citizens of Rahway. The prison's large dome is a landmark that can be seen from various parts surrounding, including US Route 1-9
U.S. Route 1/9
U.S. Route 9 is a U.S. highway in the northeast United States, running from Laurel, Delaware north to the Canadian border near Champlain, New York...
and New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit
The New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...
's North Jersey Coast Line
North Jersey Coast Line
The North Jersey Coast Line is a New Jersey Transit commuter rail service operating between New York Penn Station or Hoboken Terminal and Bay Head, New Jersey...
trains.
History
In 1895, the New Jersey LegislatureNew Jersey Legislature
The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the Senate...
voted to establish the state’s first reformatory. A year later, construction began at Rahway on state property known as Edgar Farm. The prison opened in 1901 and originally housed male offenders between the ages of 16 and 30 who were first-time offenders.
The first superintendent, J. E. Heg, served only a year. He was succeeded by Joseph W. Martin who led the institution until his death in 1909. Martin was succeeded by Dr. Frank Moore, until he retired in 1929.
The administration building, cell houses, schoolrooms, chapel, shops, and other buildings were surrounded by a large wall encompassing 21 acres (84,984.1 m²). The entire prison was surrounded by hundreds of acres of farmland that the inmates worked. By 1908, there were two four-tiered cell houses. One cell house contained 256 cells measuring 9’ x 5’ x 8.6’, while the other had 384 cells that were only 7.1’ x 5’ x 8’. A 1928 inspection reported that the cells were equipped “with a fair quality of toilet and lavatory.”
The reformatory years
When the institution first opened in 1901, the prison held 193 young men. The numbers of inmates had increased to 525 by 1912 and to 745 by 1928. Of the 514 prisoners admitted during 1928, 304 (59 %) were under twenty years of age, 164 (32 %) were twenty to twenty-four, and 46 (9 %) were from twenty-five to twenty-nine years old, with a racial breakdown of 406 (79 %) White and 108 (21 %) African-American. Rahway was run on a “grading” system that graded the conduct of each inmate. A book of rules and regulations supplied to each inmate when he arrived discussed what was expected of him and the consequences of violating the rules. All inmates entered the prison in the “second grade” and had the opportunity to advance or be demoted depending on their behavior. Inmates in different grades were granted different privileges.The inmates’ day at Rahway consisted primarily of school and work. They woke at 5:45 a.m. with lights out at 9 p.m. Those who had to attend school went to classes half the day and worked the other half. Vocational training and jobs were offered, including tailoring, cooking, shoemaking, printing, electrical work, farming/gardening, plumbing, and painting.
Transition to adult prison
With the opening of reformatories at Annandale (1928) and Bordentown (1937), Rahway changed from a reformatory to a prison for adult males.In 1930, construction began on additions to the institution. Between 1931 and 1932, industrial and laundry buildings were added. A new dormitory wing, “Two Wing,” was built in 1932. It contained two dormitories housing 150 men each, thereby increasing the prison’s capacity to 900 inmates. In 1951, Rahway’s capacity was furthered increased to 1,000, when the last wing, “Three Wing,” was constructed. As years passed, renovation on the institution continued. In 1967, one of the old buildings was improved and made into “Five Wing.” From 1985 to 1988, trailers were erected and old buildings renovated (textile and laundry) for housing and dining facilities. These new additions became “Six, Seven, and Eight Wings.”
Riots and escapes
From April 17- 22, 1952, prisoners held officers hostage in a riot that took place because inmates were being beaten with nightsticks by officers prior to the riot. The riot ended when the inmates were gassed.On Thanksgiving Day in 1971, five hundred inmates held six hostages, including the warden, for 24 hours. Six officers were injured, three with stab wounds in the early hours of the riot. The inmates demanded a more sufficient diet, regulation of commissary prices, improvement of the educational system and vocation training, better discipline of officers, and additional medicine supplies including aspirin. Ultimately, the prison was retaken with no loss of life and the captives were set free without the use of firearms.
On August 11, 1972, three convicted murderers escaped by sawing the bars of a third floor window. Later three officers were suspended for being responsible. In August 1980, in an effort to reduce the numbers of escapes, prisoners were issued gray prison uniforms.
East Jersey Prison today
In 1988, Rahway State Prison was renamed East Jersey State Prison when Rahway residents claimed that being identified with the prison stigmatized the city and affected property values. However, residents of the region surround the prison still refer to building by its former name. East Jersey State Prison’s demographic makeup is much different than what it was when it first opened in 1901.The inmates housed at the prison today are some of New Jersey’s toughest criminals ranging from 18 to 65 years of age.The Education Department of East Jersey State Prison offers a variety of programs to the inmates. Vocational training courses include auto-body, auto mechanics, culinary arts, painting and decorating, and horticulture. The prison offers primary education (A.B.E. Course) and secondary education (GED) courses to the inmates. Inmates who are high school or GED graduates can take college classes offered through Union County College’s “Project Inside” program.
The prison in popular culture
The prison is known for three high-profile professional boxersBoxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
who were at one time incarcerated there. Former middleweight contender Rubin Carter
Rubin Carter
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter fought professionally as a middleweight boxer from 1961 to 1966. In 1966, he was arrested for a triple homicide in the Lafayette Bar and Grill in Paterson, New Jersey...
, freed in 1985 after being sentenced to two consecutive life terms, was featured in the 1975 Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
song "Hurricane
Hurricane (song)
"Hurricane" is a protest song by Bob Dylan co-written with Jacques Levy, about the imprisonment of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. It compiles alleged acts of racism and profiling against Carter, which Dylan describes as leading to a false trial and conviction....
" and the 1999
1999 in film
The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...
film The Hurricane. Dwight Muhammad Qawi
Dwight Muhammad Qawi
Dwight Muhammad Qawi is a former world boxing champion in the light heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions...
became a two-time world champion after leaving Rahway. A contemporary of Qawi, James Scott
James Scott (boxer)
James Scott is an American former boxer and former prison inmate. He is best known for having become a contender in the World Boxing Association's light heavyweight division while incarcerated at Rahway State Prison in Avenel, New Jersey....
, was a title contender of the same era who fought many times inside the prison itself, including a fight against Qawi in 1981.
The prison served as the filming location for the 1978 Academy Award winning documentary Scared Straight!
Scared Straight!
Scared Straight! is a 1978 documentary directed by Arnold Shapiro. Narrated by Peter Falk, the subject of the documentary is a group of juvenile delinquents and their three-hour session with actual convicts...
The prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
is also the birthplace of the Lifers' Group, in which prison inmates participate in a government-sponsored hip hop music
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
program, recording such songs as "The Real Deal" and "Belly of the Beast" to discourage children from becoming criminals. It released an album and EP on the Walt Disney Company's Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by Disney Music Group, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company.-History:Hollywood Records was founded in 1989 by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner with the idea of expanding the music operations of the company and to develop and promote...
during the 1990s.
The prison's distinctive architecture, with its large dome and imposing metal gates, has appeared in many films including Lock Up
Lock Up (film)
- Plot :Frank Leone , a skilled mechanic and footballer, is a model prisoner nearing the end of his sentence in a low-security prison. One night while sleeping in his cell, guards arrive and forcibly take Leone to maximum security Gateway Prison...
, Crazy Joe, Rounders, Malcolm X, He Got Game
He Got Game
He Got Game is a 1998 American sports-drama film written and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Denzel Washington as Jake Shuttlesworth, a prison inmate convicted for killing his wife...
, The Hurricane
The Hurricane (1999 film)
The Hurricane is a 1999 biographical film directed by Norman Jewison, and starring Denzel Washington. The script was adapted by Armyan Bernstein and Dan Gordon from the books Lazarus and the Hurricane by Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton and The Sixteenth Round by Rubin "Hurricane" Carter.The film...
, and Ocean's Eleven
Ocean's Eleven (2001 film)
Ocean's Eleven is a 2001 American comedy-crime caper and remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper film of the same name. The 2001 film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and features an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy García, and Julia Roberts. The film was...
.
The prison is mentioned in the beginning of episode 104 of Arrested Development. George Bluth is concerned for his prison's softball team because they are "playing Rahway next week".
The prison is also shown in season 2 of the television show Chuck.
"Rahway Prison" is mentioned in the lyrics of the Traveling Wilburys
Traveling Wilburys
The Traveling Wilburys were an English–American supergroup consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty, accompanied by drummer Jim Keltner...
1988 song "Tweeter and the Monkey Man
Tweeter and the Monkey Man
"Tweeter and the Monkey Man" is a song by rock music supergroup The Traveling Wilburys that first appeared on the 1988 album Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1.-Background:...
", and "Rahway State" is mentioned in the lyrics of the East River Pipe
East River Pipe
East River Pipe is the name under which Fred Cornog records. Cornog was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and raised in Summit, New Jersey. After high school, Cornog worked a series of menial jobs before succumbing to alcoholism, depression, drug abuse and eventual homelessness, ending up in the...
song "Where Does All The Money Go?".
The prison is mentioned in the Flavor of Love 3 episode, "Neverwed Game." Guest star Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for his talk show The Arsenio Hall Show, which ran between 1989 and 1994, and his roles in the films Coming to America and Harlem Nights.Hall is also known for his appearance as Alan Thicke's sidekick on the...
comments on Flav's clothes, saying that Flav looks good in the color orange, as long as it does not say "Rahway" across the front.
In the first season of Boardwalk Empire, Michael Shannon
Michael Shannon (actor)
Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
as agent Nelson Van Alden, uses the threat of 10 years of hard labor in Rahway, as means of getting information from a young man he is interrogating.