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Caption: Eastern
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Penitentiary Philadelphia
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Caption: Chef J and I didn't want to go to the usual spots and eat only cheese steaks, so we found ourselves at the ESP.
We learnt that when the ESP was completed and in operation in 1829, it was the largest and most expensive public building in America.
Its system of separate confinement was revolutionary at the time and soon became the the model for other prisons.
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Caption: At the time, physical punishment and abuse were rampant in prisons, which inspired the vision behind the ESP:
To move criminals towards reflection and change through silent penitence of the ugliness of their crime and behavior.
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Caption: Each prisoner had his or her own cell, with heat, water, toilet and skylight.
Even the White House did not have running water at this time.
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Caption: The famous gangster Al Capone spent eight months here in 1929.
His cell was decorated with oriental rugs and oil paintings.
He also had a cabinet radio.
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Caption: In 1971, 142 years after it first opened, the ESP closed its doors for good due to its dilapidation.
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