Panzram At Leavenworth

On February 1, 1929, Carl Panzram, the self-described "meanest man who ever lived", stepped through the gates at the Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas. Upon entering the penitentiary, Panzram mentioned to the Warden that he would kill the first person who bothered him. Keeping his word, Panzram murdered the civilian laundry foreman who was taunting Panzram about his past crimes. A life of torture and suffering led Panzram to hate the entire human race and himself. His only friend was Washington D.C. corrections officer Henry Lesser, who Panzram continued corresponding with while incarcerated at USP Leavenworth. Eventually, Panzram is placed in segregation across from another famous criminal, Robert Stroud, The Birdman of Alcatraz, who observes Panzram and writes about him. Panzram does not censor himself as he conveys his thoughts on murder, segregation, the death penalty, and his desire to die. Panzram at Leavenworth is the first book to accurately depict murderer Carl Panzram's time at the federal penitentiary. Presenting archival documents and photographs, a clear view of the events which transpired during Panzram's time at Leavenworth Penitentiary comes into focus.

The infamous escape from the maximum security federal prison is recounted in gripping detail in this Depression Era true crime history. On December 11, 1931, chaos erupted behind the limestone walls of Leavenworth Penitentiary as seven desperate men put months of planning into action. Aided by notorious gangsters Frank Nash, George "Machine Gun" Kelly and Thomas James Holden, these convicts enacted one of the most legendary prison breaks in history, blazing a path to freedom with stolen cars and terrorized hostages. But their audacious escape was only the beginning. Across Kansas, anyone who could carry a gun and knew the terrain quickly picked up the pursuit. In Leavenworth Seven, historian and Kansas native Kenneth LaMaster recounts the incredible story through first-person accounts, news reports, and official FBI files.

In 1929, while serving a 25-year sentence for burglary, Carl Panzram bludgeoned a fellow inmate with an iron bar and was sentenced to death. On death row at Leavenworth Prison Panzram wrote his life story, or autobiography, through a series of letters to Henry Lesser, a guard he befriended. Here he sets down a detailed description of his criminal exploits, including 21 murders, his upbringing in correctional facilities for juvenile delinquents (where he was severely beat and tortured for petty infractions) and time as an adult incarcerated in places as varied as Leavenworth to county jails.

On July 1, 1895, under the direction of warden James French, the first federal prison was born. That same year, St. Louis architects Eames and Young went to work drawing up plans for an institution that would house the most notorious offenders in the nation's history. At sunrise on March 1, 1897, 300 inmates and 30 guards marched three miles to the construction site located on the southwest corner of the military reservation. From sunup to sundown seven days a week in the hot Kansas summer to the harsh prairie winters, inmates labored building their new home. Leavenworth's rich history as a gateway to the Old West is second to none. Name a famous figure such as George Armstrong Custer, John Joseph Pershing, Dwight D. Eisenhower, or Colin Powell. They have all graced the streets of this historic community. Equally pick a name of the most notorious criminals. George "Machine Gun" Kelly, Robert F. Stroud, Frank Nash, Frank "the Enforcer" Nitti, and George "Buggs" Moran--they all stopped by to "spend time in Leavenworth."

An up-to-date and indispensable guide for film history buffs of all kind, this book surveys more than 500 major films based on true stories and historical subject matter. When a film is described as "based on a true story" or "inspired by true events," exactly how "true" is it? Which "factual" elements of the story were distorted for dramatic purposes, and what was added or omitted? Inspired by True Events: An Illustrated Guide to More Than 500 History-Based Films, Second Edition concisely surveys a wide range of major films, docudramas, biopics, and documentaries based on real events, addressing subject areas including military history and war, political figures, sports, and art. This book provides an up-to-date and indispensable guide for all film history buffs, students and scholars of history, and fans of the cinema.

Prison Life Writing is the first full-length study of one of the most controversial genres in American literature. By exploring the complicated relationship between life writing and institutional power, this book reveals the overlooked aesthetic innovations of incarcerated people and the surprising literary roots of the U.S. prison system. Simon Rolston observes that the autobiographical work of incarcerated people is based on a conversion narrative, a story arc that underpins the concept of prison rehabilitation and that sometimes serves the interests of the prison system, rather than those on the inside. Yet many imprisoned people rework the conversion narrative the way they repurpose other objects in prison. Like a radio motor retooled into a tattoo gun, the conversion narrative has been redefined by some authors for subversive purposes, including questioning the ostensible emancipatory role of prison writing, critiquing white supremacy, and broadly reimagining autobiographical discourse. An interdisciplinary work that brings life writing scholarship into conversation with prison studies and law and literature studies, Prison Life Writing theorizes how life writing works in prison, explains literature’s complicated entanglements with institutional power, and demonstrates the political and aesthetic innovations of one of America’s most fascinating literary genres.

The brutally graphic memoirs of one of America's most notorious and urepentant murderers who killed 21 people and committed thousands of burglaries and numerous acts of vioence and sexual abuse. Born in 1891 in Minnesota, he died on the gallows in 1930 after having spent a large portion of his life within the penitentiary system. Includes 22 b/w illustrations. 'I enjoyed the real hell out of it. Panzram is one of those people who doesn't exist in your mind until you come across him in life or as here, in a book, and then he never leaves you' -Norman Mailer

Imprisonment has become big business in the United States. Using a "history of ideas" approach, this book examines the cultural underpinnings of prisons in the United States and explores how shared ideas about imprisonment evolve into a complex, loosely connected nationwide system of prisons that keeps enough persons to populate a small nation behind bars, razor wire and electrified fences. Tracing both the history of the prison and the very idea of imprisonment in the United States, this book provides students with a critical overview of American prisons and considers their past, their present and directions for the future. Topics covered include: • a history of imprisonment in America from 1600 to the present day; • the twentieth-century prison building binge; • the relationship between U.S. prisons and the private sector; • a critical account of capital punishment; • less-visible prison minorities, including women, children and the elderly; and • sex, violence and disease in prison. This comprehensive book is essential reading for advanced courses on corrections and correctional management and offers a compelling and provocative analysis of the realities of American penal culture from past to present. It is perfect reading for students of criminal justice, corrections, penology and the sociology of punishment.