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Florida State Prison Superintendent L. F. Chapman manuscripts, circa 1932.
Amount:
.10 cubic ft. (9 items)
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement:
Unarranged.
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Biographical/Historical:
Leonard Fielding Chapman (1884-1977) was born in Phoenix, Arizona. He moved to Florida in 1910 and began working in the citrus industry at DeLand. Prior to the 1931 Legislature, he won election to represent Volusia County. That same year, Chapman accepted the position of superintendent of the Florida State Prison, a position he maintained for 25 years. He immediately embarked upon a system of prison reforms including replacement of obsolete buildings, sanitation improvements, and prisoner education and behavior modification. He retired from public service in 1956.
The Florida State Farm, also referred to as Florida State Prison or Raiford Prison, opened in 1913. Now called the Union Correctional Institution, it is Florida's largest and oldest correctional institution. From its opening until about the 1930s, the prison property comprised an 18,000-acre tract of primarily agricultural land that the convicts worked to benefit the prison and the state. The land included 4,000 acres dedicated to farming vegetables, hay, and cane syrup, and another 12,000 acres of pasture and stock raising for range cattle, dairy cattle, chickens, and hogs. The prison also included several industrial factories for the manufacturing of license plates, shoes, processing of tobacco, and more.
Summary:
This collection consists of short essays that L. F. Chapman wrote during his time as Superintendent of Florida State Farm. Primarily advocating for the Florida penal system, specifically for the programs and operations at Florida State Prison, Chapman wrote on a variety of topics through imaginative metaphors and colorful language. The essays discuss state assistance for released inmates, the human element of Raiford Prison, the ending of life with the electric chair, the rehabilitation of inmates, and the work of the Pardon Board. He delves often into the invisible, emotional struggles of the inmates and laments on the circumstances that led them to incarceration. Several of the essays also include stats and general information on the prison and its inmate population.
Finding Aids:
Folder listing available. 0
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Associated Materials:
For more materials relating to L. F. Chapman, see Collection M94-2, Leonard F. Chapman papers, 1933-1956 (1 cubic foot).
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Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Chapman, Leonard F.
Florida State Prison.
Prison administration Florida Prisons Florida
Union County (Fla.)
for detailed listing.