Lewis Edward Lawes (September 13, 1883 – April 23, 1947) was a

prison warden The warden ( US, Canada) or governor ( UK, Australia), also known as a superintendent (US, South Asia) or director (UK, New Zealand), is the official who is in charge of a prison. Name In the United States and Canada, warden is the most common ...

and a proponent of

prison reform Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, improve the effectiveness of a penal system, or implement alternatives to incarceration. It also focuses on ensuring the reinstatement of those whose lives are impacted by crimes ...

. During his 21-year tenure at

Sing Sing Correctional Facility Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north of ...

, he supervised the executions of 303 prisoners.

Biography

Lawes was born on September 13, 1883 in Elmira, New York. He was the only child of Henry Lewis Lawes (died 1925) and Sarah Abbott. His father worked as a prison guard at the New York State Reformatory, now called the

Elmira Correctional Facility Elmira Correctional Facility, also known as "The Hill," is a maximum security state prison located in Chemung County, New York, in the City of Elmira. It is operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. The ...

. Lawes ran away at 17 and joined the United States Coast Artillery. Afterwards, he worked at an insurance company before beginning his prison career as a guard at Clinton Prison in Dannemora, New York on March 1, 1905. On September 30, 1905, he married Katherine Stanley. He subsequently worked at first

Auburn Prison Auburn Correctional Facility is a state prison on State Street in Auburn, New York, United States. It was built on land that was once a Cayuga village. It is classified as a maximum security facility. History Constructed in 1816 as Auburn Pri ...

, then Elmira Reformatory. In March 1915 he was named Superintendent of the City Reformatory on Hart Island in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Lawes became warden of the Massachusetts State Prison in 1918. New York Governor Al Smith asked him to take over as

Warden of Sing Sing The Wardens of Sing Sing are appointed by the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. *Elam Lynds (1825–1830) * Robert Wiltse (1830–1840) *David L. Seymour (1840–1843) * William H. Peck (warden) (1843–1845) ...

. Lawes took charge on January 1, 1920. He was featured on the cover and in an article of ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' magazine issue of November 18, 1929. His wife, Kathryn (1887-1937), died on October 31, 1937 at Ossining Hospital after she fell at the

Cortlandt, New York Cortlandt is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States, located at the northwestern edge of the county, at the eastern terminus of the Bear Mountain Bridge. The town includes the villages of Buchanan and Croton-on-Hudson. History T ...

end of the

Bear Mountain Bridge The Bear Mountain Bridge, ceremonially named the Purple Heart Veterans Memorial Bridge, is a toll suspension bridge in New York State. It carries US 6 and US 202 across the Hudson River between Bear Mountain State Park in Orange Co ...

. The heel of her shoe was caught between two boards and it caused her to fall and break her leg. She wasn't found until nighttime and she died from

hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe ...

. He remained at his post as

for twenty-one years, instituting reforms, until he retired on July 16, 1941. He was replaced by Robert J. Kirby. Lawes became the president of the

Boy Rangers of America The Boy Rangers of America was a Scouting program in the United States for boys ages 8 through 12. It was organized on January 24, 1913 in Montclair, New Jersey by Emerson Brooks. Although independent of the Boy Scouts of America, it was the p ...

in 1941. Lawes died of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 23, 1947 at age 63 in

Garrison, New York Garrison is a hamlet in Putnam County, New York, United States. It is part of the town of Philipstown, on the east side of the Hudson River, across from the United States Military Academy at West Point. The Garrison Metro-North Railroad st ...

. He was interred at

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York, is the final resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose 1820 short story " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent burying ground at the Old Dutch ...

in Sleepy Hollow, New York.

Writings

Lawes wrote several books. Several of his works were made into films. His most famous book, ''Twenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing'', was made into a 1932 movie under the same title, starring

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...

, and again in 1940 as ''

Castle on the Hudson ''Castle on the Hudson'' (UK title: ''Years Without Days'') is a 1940 American film noir drama directed by Anatole Litvak and starring John Garfield, Ann Sheridan, and Pat O'Brien. A thief is sent to Sing Sing Prison, where he is befriended by t ...

'', featuring

John Garfield John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle, March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of ...

. '' Over the Wall'' was produced in 1938 based on the life of one of his inmates, Alabama Pitts. ''

Invisible Stripes ''Invisible Stripes'' is a 1939 Warner Bros. crime film starring George Raft as a gangster unable to go straight after returning home from prison. The movie was directed by Lloyd Bacon and also features William Holden, Jane Bryan and Humphrey ...

'' in 1939, with George Raft, was based on his novel of the same name, while Humphrey Bogart starred in '' You Can't Get Away with Murder'' in 1939, an adaptation of ''Chalked Out'', a play Lawes co-wrote. His papers are archived in the Special Collections of the Lloyd Sealy Library,

John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts ...

References

External links

* *
Lewis E. Lawes Papers (1883–1947)
(finding aid); collection housed in Lloyd Sealy Library Special Collections, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Photographs from the Lewis E. Lawes Papers (digitized)
in the Lloyd Sealy Library Digital Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawes, Lewis 1883 births 1947 deaths American prison officers Penal system in New York (state) Penologists Wardens of Sing Sing Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery People from Elmira, New York People from Ossining, New York People from Garrison, New York Elmira Correctional Facility 20th-century American male writers