The Federal Correctional Institution at Sandstone: A History - Part 4

          The FCI got off to a bit of a rough start in its first few days. When the first fifty inmates arrived in early April, the prison staff suddenly realized they were not ready for them. The kitchen and bakery were not yet complete, and supplies were limited, so preparing meals was quite difficult! The Sandstone bread man, Oscar Holbeck, stepped up to provide a large amount of bread, and more groceries soon arrived through the prison system. (27) Now well-fed, the first fifty prisoners set to work on building projects and preparing for the arrival of further inmates.
          Despite the initial glitches, the FCI prisoners and staff soon settled into a routine. When a new inmate arrived at the FCI, he entered into a thirty-day orientation period. First, he was taken into a “reception” room where he was provided with a shower and a prison uniform. Staff members checked his health, fingerprinted him, and took his picture. Over the next few days, the new prisoner met with a social service director, psychiatrist, and psychologist. He was checked out by doctors and dentists and introduced to the warden and associate warden. He talked with the director of education and was enrolled in classes appropriate for his educational level. (28) Why take so much effort to orient a new prisoner? Warden Humphrey explained:

"During this period we get to know the men. Not all are hardened criminals. Most of them have specific problems which need to be corrected. We let them know that they are here as punishment for crimes but at the same time we feel that by treating them well, giving them an opportunity to rest as well as work and devote their non-working hours to profitable leisure- time activity we can operate a more efficient institution." (29)

          When the orientation period was completed, the prisoner received his work assignment, which he fulfilled five days a week for seven and a half hours a day. (30) In the prison's early days, many of these work assignments involved tending to the “prison farm” portion of the FCI. In his off hours, the inmate could take classes, enjoy social activities in the recreation hall, participate in baseball games, read, write letters, receive visitors (on a limited, scheduled basis), watch movies (and in later years television), and participate in a variety of programs including religious services, Alcoholics Anonymous, and card clubs. (31) Most inmates at the FCI served prison terms of eighteen months or less during the institution's first years, and shortly before the end of each prisoner's sentence, he typically moved to a treatment center or halfway house (as those options became available) to help him manage his transition to freedom. (32)
          The FCI functioned relatively smoothly for eight years. It brought added jobs and income to Sandstone; a new base of prison employees and family members of inmates who purchased houses in the village and served as customers for local businesses; improved roads and bridges for transportation to and from the prison; and an overall feeling that, with the stability the institution brought to the village, Sandstone would survive the trouble times of the 1930s and 1940s. (33)
          That impression of security was relatively short-lived, however. On September 2, 1947, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons announced that it was considering reducing the FCI's inmate population and personnel. (34) A committee from Sandstone, including one of the original prison farm four, John F. Hawley, left almost immediately for Washington to ask the Bureau to reconsider. They were unsuccessful. The Bureau demoted the FCI to a “prison camp” with only thirty staff members and about 103 inmates. (35) The situation worsened over the next year. By April of 1949, the prison population had dropped below one hundred, and the few staff members left were awaiting transfer notices. At its peak, the prison had housed six hundred inmates and provided jobs for about 125 people, most of whom purchased homes in Sandstone. (36) Now the town was facing an “economic tragedy” when the Bureau of Prisons formally closed the FCI on June 30, 1949. (37) One newspaper article summed up the stressful situation:

"It is estimated that the prison closing will take one-fourth of the working population away from here. This means an average annual payroll of between $400,000 and $500,000 will disappear from the business life of Sandstone and other nearby communities. It does not take into account food products, clothing, fuel and other products sold here to the prison itself, which has been estimated in excess of $1,000,000 a year. The whole business economy of Sandstone has been geared for years to the needs of the prison and its personnel." (38)

27. “Officially Opened.”
28. Nathan Cohen, “Federal Institution Is Far Cry From Hard-Boiled Era” (newspaper article, 1939).
29. Ibid.
30. Ellen Walker, “The Federal Correctional Institution: Admission and Orientation” (newspaper article, n.d.).
31. Ibid.; Cohen
32. “'Open House'”; Walker
33. “New Prison”; Ruth Hammond, “Not Everyone Who Lives in Sandstone Does So by Choice” (newspaper article, March 17, 1979).
34. Hubin.
35. Ibid.
36. Larry Fitzmaurice, “Sandstone Reels Under Major Blow In Prison Closing” (newspaper article, 1949).
37. Ibid.
38. Ibid.