![RedHatsExecutionChamber](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/RedHatsExecutionChamber.jpg)
The Red Hat Cell Block is a former prison housing unit of the
Louisiana State Penitentiary
The Louisiana State Penitentiary (known as Angola, and nicknamed the "Alcatraz of the South", "The Angola Plantation" and "The Farm"Sutton, Keith "Catfish".Out There: Angola angling. ''ESPN Outdoors''. May 31, 2006. Retrieved on August 25, 2010. ...
in
West Feliciana Parish
West Feliciana Parish (French: ''Paroisse de Feliciana Ouest''; Spanish: ''Parroquia de West Feliciana'') is a civil parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 census, the population was 15,625, and 15,310 at the 2020 census. ...
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
which, for a time, also contained the state's execution chamber and electric chair.
After a 1933 escape attempt, prison authorities constructed a new prisoner cell block,
[Harper, Stephen J. ''Crossing Hoffa: A Teamster's Story''. ]Minnesota Historical Society
The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before statehoo ...
, 2007
36
Retrieved from Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...
on March 14, 2011. , . a one-story, 30-cell building at Camp E. That cell block, which became the most restrictive inmate housing unit in Angola, was colloquially referred to as "Red Hat",
[20030228.htm]
" National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
. February 28, 2003. Retrieved on March 13, 2011. after the red paint-coated straw hats that its occupants wore when they worked in the fields.
[Biggs, Brooke Shelby.]
Camp J, Red Hats, and the Hole
" ''Mother Jones
Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...
''. March 5, 2009. Retrieved on August 25, 2010.
After a federal court ordered Louisiana prison authorities to enact reforms at Angola,
Warden C. Murray Henderson phased out "Red Hat", and in 1972 Elayn Hunt had "Red Hat" officially closed.
[Sinclair, Billy and Jodie Sinclair. ''A Life in the Balance: the Billy Wayne Sinclair Story''. ]Arcade Publishing
Arcade Publishing is an independent trade publishing company that started in 1988 in New York, USA. It publishes American and world fiction and nonfiction.
The company was started and run by Richard Seaver and his wife Jeannette.Weber, Bruce (Ja ...
, 2000
131
Retrieved from Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...
on October 28, 2010. , Red Hat became a
dog kennel
A kennel is a structure or shelter for dogs. Used in the plural, ''the kennels'', the term means any building, collection of buildings or a property in which dogs are housed, maintained, and (though not in all cases) bred. A kennel can be made o ...
.
In 1977 Camp J took "Red Hat"'s role as the most restrictive housing unit in Angola.
On February 20, 2003, the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
listed the Red Hat Cell Block on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
as #03000041.
Composition
Red Hat had thirty prison cells. Each cell measured by ; a solid steel door was the point of entry and egress. Each cell had a window near the cell's roof for ventilation; prison guards controlled a steel flap located at each cell window. Each cell housed an iron bunk without a mattress. To urinate and defecate, prisoners used a steel bucket that was emptied every morning. Four
guard tower
A guard tower is any military tower used for guarding an area. These towers are usually operated by military personnel, and are structures built in areas of established control. These include military bases and cities occupied by military forces. ...
s were in proximity to Red Hat; guards in those towers had orders to "shoot to kill."
Inmate life
Brooke Shelby Biggs of ''
Mother Jones
Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...
'' said that men who had lived in "Red Hat" "told of a dungeon crawling with rats, where dinner was served in stinking buckets splashed onto the floors."
The food consumed by Red Hat prisoners was leftovers from the cafeteria serving the rest of Camp E. The leftovers were placed in wheelbarrows and given to the Red Hat prisoners.
Some prisoners were not wearing clothes while confined to their cells.
[Ashton, Linda. "Louisiana Inmates Blame Unrest on Governor : Roemer's Stinginess With Clemency Has Created 'Time Bomb,' Lifers Claim" '']Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
'' at the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
''. July 23, 1989
2
Retrieved on March 22, 2011.
See also
*
Gruesome Gertie
Gruesome Gertie was the nickname given by death row inmates to the Louisiana electric chair.
It is also widely known for the failed execution of Willie Francis, the first failed execution by electric chair.
History
The 1940 Louisiana legislature ...
References
{{reflist
Louisiana State Penitentiary
Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana
Prisons on the National Register of Historic Places
Government buildings completed in 1935
National Register of Historic Places in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana
1935 establishments in Louisiana