Prison Labor

Prison Labor. Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park. Anything a prisoner could not make himself or barter for, he had to do without., As an inmate, forty-eight hours a week were spent working in the fields, quarry, adobe yard, or on assignment in a shop. Whether you needed a tin cup or a new mattress; designed silver spurs or carved wooden table legs, there was a shop equipped for producing the item. There were two shop buildings inside the prison, both are now gone. One was in the east yard, and one on the empty site in front of you. Each had several workshops, all different. Out of the tailor and shoe shop came garments to wear. A bakery oven yielded breads and desserts. The rehabilitation program of that time consisted of the more knowledgeable teaching those who wanted to learn. After hours, inmates were allowed to produce crafts which were sold or traded at a monthly craft fair, open to the public. A share of the profit was saved and given to the inmate when he left the prison., The museum to your left was not one of the prison buildings. To preserve the historic site, the museum was built on the original foundation of the mess hall in 1939. The project was accomplished with volunteer labor using locally raised and Federal funds. It was completed in a record sixty days.