Harry Snodgrass
Becoming “King of the Ivories” in Missouri State Penitentiary’s Peaceful Village Band. Early in the penitentiary system, reform advocates operated on the theory that with the right training and programs,…
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historical figures
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Emma Goldman
“Red Emma’s” stay at the Missouri State Penitentiary. “I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody’s right to beautiful, radiant things.” Emma Goldman’s quote from her autobiography, “Living My Life,”…
Kate Richards O’Hare
A former MSP inmate who helped spear head the movement for prison reform. “I am dangerous to the invisible government of the United States; I am dangerous to the special…
Historical Figures: Blanche Barrow
The fourth member of the infamous Barrow gang. “Just a minute,” Blanche Barrow told the sheriff at the door. This code alerted her husband, Buck, who shortly began firing on…
How a Missouri State Penitentiary prisoner fought his way to boxing stardom
Sonny Liston. Overlooking the Missouri River sits a looming landmark — the Missouri State Penitentiary (MSP), a facility that has no shortage of famous former inmates. One of the most…
Missouri’s Death Row Love Story: Bonnie & Carl
The horrific tale of the only couple on death row at the Missouri State Penitentiary. On the morning of September 28, 1953, a woman approached a Kansas City school. She…