The Pennsylvania Prison Society is an advocacy group that supports prisoners, formerly incarcerated individuals and their families. It is headquartered in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

History

It was founded in 1787 as the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons, a name which it retained for 100 years. Among its founders were Dr.

Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, ...

John Swanwick John Swanwick (1760August 1, 1798) was an American merchant, poet and politician. He served in the Pennsylvania General Assembly and from 1795 to 1798 served in the United States representative from Pennsylvania in the 4th and 5th congresses. ...

, John Morrison, Thomas Morrison,

Tench Coxe Tench Coxe (May 22, 1755July 17, 1824) was an American political economist and a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress in 1788–1789. He wrote under the pseudonym "A Pennsylvanian," and was known to his political enemies as ...

, Zachariah Poulson, Thomas Lloyd, Joseph Moore, William Roger, John Haighn, James Whitehall, Richard Wells, Thomas Wistar, Jacob Shoemaker,

Isaac Parrish Isaac Parrish (March 1804August 9, 1860) was an American lawyer and politician who served two non-consecutive terms as a U.S. Representative from Ohio in the mid-19th century. Early life and career Born near St. Clairsville, Belmont County ...

, William Lane, Thomas Rogers, Samuel Griffiths, Francis Baily, Joseph James, Charles Marshall, John Olden,

Caleb Lownes Caleb (), sometimes transliterated as Kaleb ( he, כָּלֵב, ''Kalev'', ; Tiberian vocalization: Kālēḇ; Hebrew Academy: Kalev), is a figure who appears in the Hebrew Bible as a representative of the Tribe of Judah during the Israelites' ...

, Thomas Parkinson, John Morris, John Baker, Dr. George Duffield, James Reynolds, Benjamin Wynkoop, George Krebs, Dr. William White, Dr. Henry Helmuth, Dr. John Jones, Dr. William Shippen, Dr. Gerardus Clarkson, Jonathan Penrose, and Lawrence Sickle. William White served as president of the organization for most of its early years. In 1845, the Prison Society established the ''Journal of Prison Discipline and Philanthropy'', which is still published today as ''The Prison Journal''. The Society's main office is located at 230 S. Broad Street Suite 605,

, 19102. In addition, there are 43 chapters of the Pennsylvania Prison Society running Official Visitor programs throughout the state.

References

External links

* * Human rights organizations based in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Pennsylvania Organizations based in Philadelphia Prison-related organizations 1787 establishments in Pennsylvania History of Philadelphia {{philadelphia-stub