FIRE IN THE BIG HOUSE
Swallow Press
An imprint of Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701
© 2019 by Mitchel P. Roth
All rights reserved
To obtain permission to quote, reprint, or otherwise reproduce or distribute material from Swallow Press / Ohio University Press publications, please contact our rights and permissions department at (740) 593-1154 or (740) 593-4536 (fax).
Printed in the United States of America
Swallow Press / Ohio University Press books are printed on acid-free paper
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Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-8214-2383-7
Electronic ISBN: 978-0-8214-4682-9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request.
This book is dedicated to the victims of the 1930 Ohio Penitentiary fire and their families.
CONTENTS
Appendix: Ohio Penitentiary Fire Victims
ILLUSTRATIONS
Map
Layout of the Ohio Penitentiary in April 1930
Plates
Ohio inmates in earlier years when prison stripes and lockstep marching were common
Guards and staff, ca. 1890s
Ohio Penitentiary dining hall
Aerial view of the Ohio Penitentiary
Panoramic view of the fire
Firefighters and hoses at the southeast wagon stockade gate
The Columbus Fire Department attempting to control the fire
Inmates and firefighters watching the fire
Tending to the injured and checking for life on the quad lawn
Looking for signs of life on the quad
Inmates conveying the injured and the dead on blankets away from the quad area
Ohio Penitentiary hospital ward
Women at the prison gates seeking passes to claim bodies of loved ones
Victims delivered in trucks to the fairgrounds for casket preparation
Victims being prepared for caskets at the fairgrounds
Caskets at the fairgrounds ready for burial
Burial of unclaimed coffin by Naval Reservists
Twisted rebar amidst the collapsed cellblock roof
Devastation in G&H cellblocks
A scorched cell in the aftermath of the fire
The hero guards William Baldwin and Thomas Little in the aftermath of the fire
Postfire activity in the quad area adjacent to the destroyed cellblocks
Postfire prisoner activity, probably lining up for breakfast
The stockade containing the tent city created in the aftermath of the fire
Warden Thomas being sworn in to testify before the Board of Inquiry
The penitentiary arsonists and escape plotters
