The Texas Prison Museum in Huntsville puts the Texas criminal justice system into perspective. Without glossing over the harsh realities of the situation, the museum opens the jailhouse door for a look into the mysterious world behind the bars.
“We try to put the facts out there for everyone to see,” says Jim Willett. Not only has Willett worked to organize the exhibit, but he retired as the warden of the Walls Unit in downtown Huntsville.
One hard and cold fact of the Texas penal system is that 361 people were sentenced to death in the electric chair between 1923 and 1964. “Old Sparky,” as the chair was nicknamed, sits in a dark cubiclelike display in the center of the museum. The polished, red wood chair with leather straps is a powerful sight. Across the aisle from the chair is a display on anti-death penalty protests at the front gates of Walls Unit, where death row was housed for many years.
Named for the red-brick walls stretching 20 feet above 12th Street, the Walls Unit is Texas’ oldest and most famous correctional institution. Since it was built in 1849, the prison has had a long list of distinguished guests like John Wesley Hardin, Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter, and Clyde Barrow.
The best way to see over the walls of the Huntsville unit is to look at the diorama of the grounds. The model of the prison is one of Willett’s favorite parts of the museum. The former warden’s vast knowledge of the history of the institution can be fascinating, and many of his stories are in his book, Warden.
As a college student, Willett joined the staff as a night-shift guard in 1971, and he witnessed a period of growth in the prison system. “We want to show the history of the prison system,” Willett says of the exhibits. He thinks that the displays shed light on something that is very mysterious to most citizens.
The long story of the Texas penal system is fascinating, and Willett admits that it can be depressing at times. Convict labor quarried the stone for the state Capitol and built the state railroad between Rusk and Palestine in East Texas. In 1972, the Ruiz v. Estelle suit began 30 years of federal control of Texas prisons because overcrowding constituted cruel and unusual punishment.
The pictures and display cases give incredible insight into life behind bars. There once was a dress code for prisoners’ uniforms with horizontal stripes reserved for the most dangerous convicts. In one glass case twisted manacles attest to the prisoners’ desire to be free. Willett points to a leather strap in the bottom of the case and says, “It’s hard to believe that prisoners were whipped until 1940.”
There are many heroes in the prison system’s story. A plaque lists the 32 officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. During the 1920s and Thirties, Marshall Lee Simmons brought needed reforms to the system.
One of Simmons’ programs was the Texas Prison Rodeo that began 1931. The inmates competed in one of the wildest cowboy shows in the country until it was closed down in 1986 due to the deteriorating condition of the stadium.
Not all of the inmates were performers; some were artists and craftsmen, and some of their creations are for sale in the museum gift shop. The exhibits showcase artwork, sculptures, and even Prisoner Monopoly – all made by inmates.
Unfortunately, not all of the artistic talents were focused in the right direction. One display case is full of handcrafted weapons confiscated from inmates including a knife with a beautiful tooled leather handle and a shotgun made from scrap pipe.
Lest the visitors forget the living conditions of a prisoner during their journey through the history of the prison system, at the end of the exhibits is a jail cell they can try on for size. The Texas Prison Museum is on the north side of Huntsville at the junction of I-45 and TX 75. The doors are open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 5pm (6pm during daylight-saving time), and on Sunday, noon to 5pm. For more information, call 936/295-2155 or go to www.txprisonmuseum.org.
725th in a series. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of Day Trips 101-200, is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 33284, South Austin, TX 78704.
This article appears in May 6 • 2005.
