Graterford State Correctional Institution’s 1981 escape attempt and hostage incident was unremarkable compared to the Attica Prison Revolt and San Quentin Riot in 1971, the Huntsville Prison Hostage Siege of 1974, and the New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot in 1980. As detailed by the report released in 1982 by then Pennsylvania Governor Thormburgh’s seven-member panel, “No lives were lost. No blood was shed. Damage to the institution was minor.”
The escape attempt and five-day standoff followed two decades of predominantly race-driven frustrations, violence, and overcrowding that flowed from the 1960s into the early 1980s. In each case, the main cause of each standoff highlighted several instances of ignorance of inmates’ requests and comments leading to violence. For its part, SCI-Graterford’s riot laid the pathway to improvements and extensive prison reforms effectively end-capping the era.
The failed escape attempt, along with interpersonal stories spanning decades, serve as one of many that the Graterford Archive and Graterford Index hope to preserve as not only a time capsule but to give a authentic image of the lives of incarcerated individuals…