# United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas: Prisoners Building an Enclosing Wall of the Penitentiary (Department of Justice album)

Canonical: https://mobfiles.org/items/nara-99956073-leavenworth-prisoners-building-wall/

Plate 39 of the Department of Justice album of the Atlanta and Leavenworth penitentiaries, ca. 1900 to ca. 1925, captioned "Prisoners building an enclosing wall of the penitentiary." The photograph is a high view over a construction site: a long wall under scaffolding, cell blocks with arched openings at the left, piles of sand and stone, and small figures of men working with carts and a horse.

The catalog title is "United States Penitentiary - Leavenworth, Kansas: Prisoners Building an Enclosing Wall of the Penitentiary," local identifier 60-AL-39. It is plate 39 of the Department of Justice album of views of the penitentiaries at Atlanta and Leavenworth, two of the first three United States penitentiaries. The page is headed "UNITED STATES PENITENTIARY--LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS." and the caption reads, in English and Spanish, "Prisoners building an enclosing wall of the penitentiary." / "Prisioneros construiendo muros de la prision."

The photograph is a high view over a construction site: a long wall under scaffolding, cell blocks with arched openings at the left, piles of sand and stone, and small figures of men working with carts and a horse.

The catalog dates the series "ca. 1900 - ca. 1925," and the item carries no date of its own, so no year is claimed. The series description says the album documents phases of construction and includes "a few photos of the prisoners." No prisoner or officer is named.

## Sources

- National Archives Catalog, General Records of the Department of Justice (RG 60), Album of Views of the Penitentiaries at Atlanta and Fort Leavenworth: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/99956073
- National Archives series: Album of Views of the Penitentiaries at Atlanta and Fort Leavenworth (NAID 518093): https://catalog.archives.gov/id/518093