The Historic Sing Sing Prison Museum will be a powerful venue for focusing serious examination of incarceration, the treatment of prisoners, their rehabilitation and/or punishment ? especially the very emotional questions of capital punishment and racism, even the development of democracy as seen through the filter of penology ? issues too often trivialized by the popular media and ignored by politicians.
The Museum will be housed in the former power plant on the banks of the Hudson River and joined by a bridge tunnel to a new structure incorporating parts of the walls of the original cellblock, which will contain reconstructions of nineteenth and twentieth century prison cells. Both buildings will display interpretive presentations of the history of American penal system.
At no time will museum visitors be able to see or communicate with prisoners. The Committee, working with the Department of Corrections, however, will explore a possible role for former or current inmates in the planning of the museum. We have already begun speaking with current staff and long-time volunteers.
The example of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, demonstrates that the American public is willing to deal with serious issues in a museum setting and that the physical presence of structures and artifacts makes such an experience all the more powerful.
As the Museum Committee, which I chair, proceeds in planning and fundraising, there will be many opportunities for Ossining residents to help mold the programming and the message that the museum will convey, and to address concerns such as Village infrastructure and parking; in short, to integrate the museum into our community.
The public is invited to view a presentation of the museum proposal at www.village.ossining.ny.us.