A Digital Bibliography of SCI-Graterford

1981

• Graterford Kitchen hostage incident occurs October 28, 1981 when several men including Joseph Bowen, Lawrence Ellison, Leroy Newsome, and Calvin Williams attempt to escape from Graterford Prison.
  • The plan involved using a hook made of piping and electrical conduit to scale a 28-foot wall between Tower #6 and #7, which was believed to be unmanned until 7:00 PM. However, due to daylight savings time, Tower #6 was already manned at 6:00 PM. The hook failed to support the weight of three men. Some fled back into the prison, blending into the chaos. Bowen and three others retreated to the main kitchen, taking six staff members and thirty-two other incarcerated men hostage.
  • For five days (October 29 - November 2) Bowen and his group held hostages while negotiating with prison officials and community figures. After negotiations facilitated by Chuck Stone, a journalist from the Philadelphia Daily News, and Bowen's brother, Jeffrey Bowen, all hostages were released unharmed and weapons were surrendered to Major Vaughn.

  • Graterford did not fully return to normal operations until mid-November 1981, though tensions lingered.

1982:

• Julius Cuyler, Graterford’s Superintendent, retired after 32 years in corrections, and is succeeded by Glenn Jeffes (former Superintendent of SCI Dallas) on January 31, 1982. Jeffes served as Graterford's Superintendent for only one year before becoming Commissioner of Corrections, replacing Ronald Marks.

1983

• Jeffes is succeeded by Charles "Chuck" Zimmerman, who was the first superintendent of SCI-Mercer. Known as the “construction superintendent”, Zimmerman oversaw a six-year, $120 million construction project at Graterford to expand and upgrade the facility.
• Bernard Hopkins is incarcerated.

1985

• Bill Cosby releases Hardheaded Boys, a live comedy album recorded at Graterford.

1988

• Bernard Hopkins is released and begins his career as a professional boxer.

1989

• A two-day riot at SCI Camp Hill near Harrisburg erupts, partly triggered by the banning of outside food during visits, and leaves the facility severely damaged. Graterford is forced to absorb 2,600 displaced inmates, further straining already overcrowded conditions. They report abuse by the Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT), including being forced to run a "gauntlet" and enduring electric shocks.
• Zimmerman leaves Graterford at the end of 1989 to open SCI Waymart at Farview in Wayne County.

• Donald Vaughn is appointed Superintendent. Vaughn, originally from North Philadelphia, had begun his career at Eastern State Penitentiary in 1967 and previously served at Graterford when Eastern closed in 1971.