Thomas Mott Osborne
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Thomas Mott Osborne (September 23, 1859 – October 20, 1926) was an American prison administrator,
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. ...
er, industrialist and New York State political reformer. In an assessment of Osborne's life, a ''New York Times'' book reviewer wrote: "His career as a penologist was short, but in the interval of the few years he served he succeeded in revolutionizing American prison reform, if not always in fact, then in awakening responsibility.... He was made of the spectacular stuff of martyrs, to many people perhaps ridiculous, but to those whose lives his theories most closely touched, inspiring and often godlike."


Biography

He was born on September 23, 1859, in
Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, the ...
, to David Munson Osborne (1822–1886) and Agnes Lithgow Devens (1822-1886. Auburn was a center of progressive political activity, particularly anti-slavery activism before and during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. His family included a number of eminent reformers, particularly his grandmother,
Martha Coffin Wright Martha Coffin Wright (December 25, 1806 – 1875) was an American feminist, abolitionist, and signatory of the Declaration of Sentiments who was a close friend and supporter of Harriet Tubman. Early life Martha Coffin was born in Boston, Mass ...
and her sister,
Lucretia Coffin Mott Lucretia Mott (''née'' Coffin (surname), Coffin; January 3, 1793 – November 11, 1880) was an Quakers in North America, American Quaker, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, women's rights activist, and social reformer. She had for ...
and his uncle
William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was a prominent American Christian, abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer. He is best known for his widely read antislavery newspaper '' The Liberator'', which he found ...
, who were organizers of the 1848
Seneca Falls Convention The Seneca Falls Convention was the first women's rights convention. It advertised itself as "a convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman".Wellman, 2004, p. 189 Held in the Wesleyan Methodist Church ...
on women's rights, with
Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca ...
, in
Seneca Falls, New York Seneca Falls is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 8,942 at the 2020 census. The Town of Seneca Falls contains the former village also called Seneca Falls. The town is east of Geneva, New York, in the nor ...
. His grandmother, Martha Coffin Wright, and in succession her daughter and Osborne's mother, Eliza Wright Osborne, and a niece, Josephine Osborne, oversaw the finances of
Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 slaves, including family and friends, us ...
, who spent her last half-century in Auburn. Martha's home in Auburn was part of the
Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...
where she harbored fugitive slaves. Both women frequented the Osborne household during Thomas Mott Osborne's upbringing. Thomas Osborne's aunt, Ellen, or as she is known to her descendants, Nella, married William Lloyd Garrison Jr., the son of the noted abolitionist
William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was a prominent American Christian, abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer. He is best known for his widely read antislavery newspaper '' The Liberator'', which he found ...
. Thomas Mott Osborne's mother, Eliza Wright Osborne, wife of David Munson Osborne, was also a feminist leader, though of lesser note.


Early years

Thomas Osborne attended
Adams Academy Adams Academy was a school that opened in 1872 in Quincy, Massachusetts, United States. John Adams, the second President of the United States, had many years before established the Adams Temple and School Fund. This fund gave of land to the peopl ...
in
Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...
, and graduated from
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
with honors in 1884, where he was among the founders of the Harvard Cooperative Society. Upon David Munson Osborne's death in 1886, Thomas Osborne became president of his family's manufacturing company, DM Osborne & Co. He married Agnes Lithgow Devens in 1886. His wife died of cancer just a few months after giving birth to their fourth son on March 26, 1896. Thomas Mott Osborne served on the Auburn School Board from 1885 to 1896, becoming the youngest chairman in its history. In 1896, he became a trustee on the board of the
George Junior Republic The William George Agency for Children's Services (formerly the George Junior Republic) is a non-profit residential treatment center for adolescent boys and girls in Freeville, New York, United States. History William Reuben George founded a j ...
, a self-governing youth colony, and soon its chairman, just in time to lead a campaign to prevent New York State from shutting it down. At the
New York state election, 1898 The 1898 New York state election was held on November 8, 1898, to elect the governor, the lieutenant governor, the Secretary of State, the state comptroller, the attorney general, the state treasurer and the state engineer, as well as all ...
, he ran on the
Independent Citizens Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independen ...
' ticket for
Lieutenant Governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket wit ...
. Osborne was elected mayor of Auburn in 1902, serving two terms. He was known to disguise himself and visit local taverns to eavesdrop on conversations to get a sense of public opinion. By 1903 DM Osborne & Co. grew to become North America's third largest producer of agricultural implements. In 1903, the family sold the company to the
International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...
Trust, leaving Osborne to pursue social reform and public service. International Harvester took over management in 1905. In 1905 he launched a daily newspaper, the ''Auburn Daily Citizen'', as a progressive voice to counter the city's dominant daily, ''the Auburn Daily Advertiser''. The Osborne family still edits and owns "The Nation", first published during the 1836 abolitionist movement.


Reformer

In 1907, Governor
Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...
selected Osborne to serve as upstate commissioner on the state's first
New York Public Service Commission The New York Public Service Commission is the public utilities commission of the New York state government that regulates and oversees the electric, gas, water, and telecommunication industries in New York as part of the Department of Public Ser ...
. At one point, to determine whether railroads could safely trim staff as they proposed, Osborne dressed as a hobo and rode the rails and was once arrested by police in
Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
in the course of his sleuthing. His report to the commission, however, was instrumental in persuading the panel to order railroad staff maintained. However, his propensity to travel in a variety of odd disguises and his close relationship with Louis Schaedeline, a handyman with whom Osborne was rumored to be having a homosexual affair, proved fatal to Osborne's future political ambitions. Between 1910 and 1912, Osborne teamed with
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, then a New York State senator, and
Louis McHenry Howe Louis McHenry Howe (January 14, 1871 – April 18, 1936) was an American reporter for the ''New York Herald'' best known for acting as an early political advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Born to a wealthy family in Indianapolis, ...
in unsuccessful efforts to reform the New York State Democratic Party. FDR, Howe, and Osborne were
upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...
's best-known foes of
Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
and
William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...
. But after the 1912 national Democratic Convention, where the three worked for the presidential nomination of
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
, Wilson ignored their faction of the state Democratic party and instead selected the larger,
Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
-led wing of the Democratic party to represent the state. Osborne quit politics in disgust. In 1912, sick in bed, Osborne was inspired to read ''My Life In Prison'' by
Donald Lowrie Donald Lowrie (March 26, 1875 – June 5, 1925) was an American newspaper writer"Donald Lowrie, Writer." ''New York Times'', June 26, 1925: 17. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851–2003). and author. He became a well-know ...
, a former inmate of
San Quentin San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the o ...
prison in California. The following year, he persuaded New York Governor
William Sulzer William Sulzer (March 18, 1863 – November 6, 1941) was an American lawyer and politician, nicknamed Plain Bill Sulzer. He was the 39th Governor of New York and a long-serving congressman from the same state. Sulzer was the first, and to date ...
to appoint him chairman of a new State Commission on
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. ...
. On behalf of the commission that year he entered the Auburn Prison, now
Auburn Correctional Facility 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 ...
, in prison garb insisting to the administration that he be treated like any other prisoner. On September 29, Osborne began six days of imprisonment as "Tom Brown," Inmate 33,333X. He recorded his experiences in ''Within Prison Walls''. Its publication in 1914 made him the most prominent prison reform crusader of his day.


Warden of Sing Sing

Osborne was appointed
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 ...
prison in
Ossining, New York Ossining may refer to: * Ossining (town), New York, a town in Westchester County, New York state *Ossining (village), New York, a village in the town of Ossining * Ossining High School, a comprehensive public high school in Ossining village * Ossi ...
, on December 1, 1914, replacing Judge George S. Weed. After addressing the prisoners in chapel, he undertook a week's stay inside the prison, again experiencing the prison from the prisoners' point of view. He next stunned the guards and prisoners by visiting the prison yard unarmed and unescorted. He established a system of internal self-rule called the "Mutual Welfare League" within the prison and quickly won enthusiastic support from both guards and prisoners. His principal opponents were prisoners who had lived comfortably within the system before his reforms, by intimidating others or using their financial resources to bribe guards for privileges. One of these, a former Manhattan banker in prison for
larceny Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Engla ...
, used his financial and political connections to instigate a rigged "investigation" of Osborne's administration. When he was indicted for
perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...
, neglect of duty, and "unlawful exualacts with inmates," Osborne fought back with a speaking tour of the state.
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
saw two mass meetings supporting his defense, one attended by the retired president of
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
Charles William Eliot Charles William Eliot (March 20, 1834 – August 22, 1926) was an American academic who was president of Harvard University from 1869 to 1909the longest term of any Harvard president. A member of the prominent Eliot family of Boston, he transfo ...
. The prison guards wrote a letter in support as well. After the judge in the case directed a verdict of acquittal, Osborne returned to Sing Sing in triumph. The front page of the New York Times described the celebration at the prison: "Convicts' Carnival Welcomes Osborne; Prisoners, in Costume and Wild with Joy, Give Pageant for Him at Sing Sing, Hundreds of Spectators." He resigned his position as Sing Sing's warden later in 1916, tired of battling his superiors and New York State Governor
Charles S. Whitman Charles Seymour Whitman (September 29, 1868March 29, 1947) was an American lawyer who served as the 41st Governor of New York from January 1, 1915, to December 31, 1918. An attorney and politician, he also served as a delegate from New York to t ...
.


Commander at Portsmouth

In 1916
Josephus Daniels Josephus Daniels (May 18, 1862 – January 15, 1948) was an American newspaper editor and publisher from the 1880s until his death, who controlled Raleigh's ''News & Observer'', at the time North Carolina's largest newspaper, for decades. A D ...
, the
Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...
at the likely suggestion of Assistant Secretary Franklin Delano Roosevelt, an ally of Osborne from his years in New York State reform politics, commissioned a report on conditions at the
Portsmouth Naval Prison Portsmouth Naval Prison is a former U.S. Navy and Marine Corps prison on the grounds of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS) in Kittery, Maine. The building has the appearance of a castle. The reinforced concrete naval prison was occupied from 19 ...
in
Kittery, Maine Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals. The southernmost town in t ...
. Osborne again investigated conditions by living inside the prison like any other inmate. He found a facility in desperate need of his reforms. In a speech at the Twentieth Century Club in New York City, he denounced "degrading" uniforms and "absurd" procedures: "When the men return from working on the seawall, a place where they could not possibly obtain anything but sand, boulders and seaweed, they are stripped and searched." In July 1917, now a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy, he took up the position of commander of the Portsmouth Naval Prison, a post he held for two and a half years. It was during these years Osborne, as senior officer, met and mentored Austin MacCormick. Austin MacCormick would continue after Osborne's death in 1926 to publish his seminal work, "The Education of Adult Prisoners" in 1931. MacCormick would also become Dean of Criminology at U.C. Berkeley and executive director of Osborne Association, a prison reform organization still active to this day. During his tenure at Portsmouth, Osborne also met and became a long-term mentor to prisoner and future author
Victor Folke Nelson Victor Folke Nelson (June 5, 1898 – December 9, 1939) was a Swedish-American writer,"Prison Ethics." ''The Tennessean''. March 6, 1933."Bound to be Read." ''The Evening Sentinel''. Carlisle, Pa. March 16, 1933."The Articulate Convict Studies Pri ...
.Thomas Mott Osborne and Paul Revere Frothingham letters to Victor Folke Nelson.
" Retrieved on January 30, 2022.
''Prison Days and Nights'', by Victor F. Nelson (New York: Garden City Publishing Co., Inc., 1936) In 1921, it would be Osborne who would convince Nelson to turn himself in after escaping from
Charlestown State Prison Charlestown State Prison was a correctional facility in Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts operated by the Massachusetts Department of Correction. The facility was built at Lynde's Point, now at the intersection of Austin Street and New Rutherf ...
in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
."Osborne Brings Noted Escaped Convict Back to State Prison Here". ''The Boston Herald''. September 12, 1921.Merrill, Anthony. "The Man Who Broke Charlestown". ''Boston Sunday Advertiser Green Magazine''. December 17, 1939.


Later career

His books, public speaking and notoriety helped end the so-called "rule of silence," floggings and other prisoner abuses common in U.S. prisons at the time. But Osborne's cherished prisoner self-government plan, the "Mutual Welfare League," vanished soon after his death in 1926. His initial experiments had been greeted by the press largely with derision, but over the course of his life he won grudging admiration from both the press and the public.


Death

He died on October 20, 1926, in
Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, the ...
. He was buried in
Fort Hill Cemetery Fort Hill Cemetery is a cemetery located in Auburn, New York, United States. It was incorporated on May 15, 1851 under its official name: "Trustees of the Fort Hill Cemetery Association of Auburn". It is known for its headstones of notable people ...
in Auburn dressed in a Portsmouth prison uniform.


Legacy

In 1933, the Welfare League Association and several other organizations Osborne had created were merged and reorganized as
Osborne Association Osborne Association is a non-governmental, multi-service, criminal justice reform, and direct service organization. Osborne runs programs for people who have been in conflict with the law and their families. It operates from community offices in Br ...
. The Association now works at every point of the criminal justice system, from arrest and "pre-entry," to programs in prison and in the community following release. True to Osborne's founding spirit, the Association's 25 programs are all designed to offer individuals the opportunity, the tools, and the support to build or rebuild their lives.


References


Publications

*''Society and Prisons'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1916) *''Prisons and Common Sense'' (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1924)


Further reading

*Denis Brian, ''Sing Sing: The Inside Story of a Notorious Prison'' (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Press, 2005) *Rudolph Chamberlain, ''There Is No Truce: A Life of Thomas Mott Osborne'' (1935) * *Jack M. Holl, ''Juvenile Reform in the Progressive Era'' (Cornell University Press, 1971) *Rebecca M. McLennan, ''The Crisis of Imprisonment: Protest, Politics, and the Making of the American Penal State, 1776-1941'' (Cambridge University Press, 2008) *''New York Times''
"Condemns Navy Prison" Dec. 4, 1916
accessed Dec. 7, 2009 *''New York Times''

accessed Dec. 7, 2009 *''New York Times''

accessed Dec. 7, 2009 *''New York Times''

accessed Dec. 7, 2009 *''New York Times''

accessed Dec. 6, 2009 *''New York Times''

accessed Dec. 6, 2009

*Alfred Brooks Rollins and Alfred B. Rollins, Jr., ''Roosevelt and Howe'' (Transaction Publishers, 2001) *Syracuse University Library

*Syracuse University Library

*Frank Tannenbaum, ''Osborne of Sing Sing'' (The University of North Carolina Press, 1933)


External links


Osborne Association home page


at Syracuse University (primary source material) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Osborne, Thomas Mott Penologists 1859 births 1926 deaths Wardens of Sing Sing Harvard University alumni People from Auburn, New York Prison reformers New York (state) Democrats United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of World War I