ES Penitentiary can bring both excitement and apprehension

Alyssa Stencavage, Asst. Life Editor

October 31, 2012

Walking along in pitch black may seem like a pretty fun thing to do, until someone jumps out right in front of your face.
This is what one would experience at the Eastern State Penitentiary in downtown Philadelphia, one of the oldest and once the most famous and expensive prisons in the United States.
“That’s probably the creepiest part,” Student Development Activities Assistant Jamie Miller said. “They always find the people who scream the most and are the most scared, and will specifically target them. Yet they are the ones who usually have the most fun.”
Known for its grand architecture and strict discipline, the ES Penitentiary was the world’s first true penitentiary, designed to inspire penitence in the hearts of convicts.
Students can take a trip to the ES Penitentiary on Friday, Nov. 2, if they are feeling brave enough. The tour is an hour-long, and the bus will arrive back to Wilkes by 11:30 p.m. or midnight.
While the idea of walking through the dark may seem like a scary one to some people, the prison has actually been modernized into different sections to give it a bit of a different taste. Tourists can be walking through what seems like actual parts of the jail and then suddenly come to parts that would not have been there in the original facet of the building.
“The cool part is that it was real, functioning jail cells,” Miller said. “It’s historic for holding some of the world’s most notorious criminals.”
Among some of these infamous inmates include Alphonse “Scarface” Capone, Victor “Babe” Andreoli, Morris “The Rabbi” Bolber, Joe Buzzard, Leo Callahan, Freda Frost, Clarence Alexander Rae, William Francis Sutton, Frederick Tenuto, Charles Yerkes and William “Blackie” Zupkoski. This history and other information is available on easternstate.org.
Those behind the scenes take one wing of the prison and turn it into a haunted house with such things as mirrors and lights, which one can go to in the fall.
But, visitors can also take a tour of the prison the way it originally was before the reconstruction.
Sharon Castano, student development coordinator, said she supports trying new events like this, even though she joked that trip is too scary for her.
Students can sign up at the information desk. Tickets are $10, which also covers the cost of the bus.

About the Contributor

Alyssa Stencavage, L&A&E Editor

Alyssa Stencavage is a junior communications studies major at Wilkes University with concentrations in broadcast media and public relations, as well as a minor in marketing. She began her time at The Beacon as a freshman in 2011, when she worked as a staff writer and became the assistant life editor at the start of her sophomore year. She currently is campus life editor. During her sophomore year, she participated in an independent study with the Times Leader, and was also involved with an account team on the Zebra Communication Board during her junior year. She also works with the Wilkes television station, Wilkes Now. Before coming to Wilkes, she wrote for her high school newspaper, while also playing volleyball and running track. Outside of school, Alyssa works as a cashier at a local grocery store and is the oldest of three children. She enjoys listening to music, taking walks and spending time with family and friends. Alyssa believes her experience with The Beacon has improved her as a writer and will help her achieve success beyond her years at Wilkes. In the future, she would like to be an anchor at a local television station.