The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 96, July 1992 - April, 1993 Page: 40
681 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Hzstorzcal Quarterly
ployment service for released prisoners, the league inaugurated pub-
lication of a newspaper, The Echo, which continues to the present day.
As an "echo of prison life" designed "to acquaint the outside world with
the worth and earnestness of many of the inmates," the maiden edition
of November 1928 included a favorable assessment of the league's work:
Since the organization of the League a marked change has been noted in the
mental atmosphere of the prisoners in the Walls. Formerly conversation was
chiefly confined to talk about jails, crimes, length of sentences, effective meth-
ods of escape, etc. Now .... The boys are discussing the trades they would like
to learn in the school and their plans for the future when released from the
penitentiary."'
Carefully monitoring system operations, board members curtailed
corporal punishment and the wearing of stripes. Baker discharged
farm managers and guards who mistreated prisoners, inviting hostility
from veteran employees who considered the board oblivious to dan-
gers inherent in the supervision of convicts."2 Annoyed by "a bawling
out" that he received from Baker and Speer for handcuffing certain
"rank prisoners," terminated farm manager B. B. Monzingo denounced
reformers for displaying excessive interest in "picture shows, ball
games, radios, boxing gloves, and music for the convicts," to the detri-
ment of farming.2" Although Mead demanded ten hours of labor at the
farms, he nevertheless reminded his subordinates that "all prisoners
should be treated humanely and fairly and strictly according to law."
"At no time has the welfare of the prisoners been sacrificed in order to
make a financial showing," Baker wrote in his 1927 annual report.30
Over protests from some prison employees, the board hired a gradu-
ate of the University of Texas Household Economics Department,
Alma Kellesberger, to oversee the system's food service, improve nutri-
tion, and eliminate waste. To superintend the Walls, administrators se-
lected a popular warden, E. F. Harrell. Inmate Simons reported to
Henry Cohen in December 1928, that morale had risen and that con-
victs observed holidays in a much more civil fashion than in the past.
27The Echo, Nov. 1928 (quotations), Teagle, Hzstory of Welfare Actzwitze, 154-157.
2"See list of fired guards in Governors' Papers Moody, Oct. 28, Nov 28, 1929 (TSL), Mead
to all Members of the 'Texas Prison Board, May lo, 19'9, Cohen Papers, Baker to B B
Monzlngo, Jan. 8, 1929, lbid , Texas Legislature, Senate Journal, 41st Leg , Reg. Sess , 1929,
pp 586-587; Baker to Simmons, Nov. 28, 1927, McCallum Papers, Minutes of the Texas
Prison Board, Nov 4, 1929, Cohen Papers
29Texas Legislature, Senate Journal, 41st Leg., Reg. Sess, 1929, pp. 586 (1st and 3rd quota-
tions), 587 (and quotation); Bake1 to Simmons, Nov. 28, 1927, McCallum Papers
o0 Meeting of Farm Managers of the Texas Prison System, Oct. 9, 1929 (1st quotation), Oct. 9,
1929, Cohen Papers, Governors' Papers: Moody, Texas State Board of Prison Commissioners,
Annual Report (1927), 1, 2 (2nd quotation), 3
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 96, July 1992 - April, 1993, periodical, 1993; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101215/m1/66/: accessed June 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.