The Chaplain’s Office is a separate small building constructed near the center of the penitentiary in the 1880s by Warden Michael Cassidy as his office. After his death it was configured to house the prison chaplains. The two-roomed Catholic Chaplain’s Office contains unique evidence of a prisoner’s faith –23 murals painted by inmate Lester Smith. Unfortunately, the severe deterioration of the Chaplain’s Office structure and the paintings’ fragile condition have forced Eastern State to keep the building closed to the general public.
We are committed to saving the severely deteriorated murals of the Catholic Chaplain’s Office and opening this fascinating space to visitors in 2012. Click here to see a video summary.
The three-phase restoration project includes:
A lead grant from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Heritage Philadelphia Program and the generous gifts from more than 290 donors have had a tremendous impact on moving this project forward. View the current list of donors.
We have raised half the funds necessary for Phases II and III and are still actively seeking support to finish funding the project. You can help save the murals of the Catholic Chaplain’s Office by making a direct contribution. Click here to donate online.
Click here for the Catholic Chaplain's Office Restoration Committee list.
About the Murals
Inmate Lester Smith painted the murals in 1955 and used the signature “Paul Martin” to honor his two favorite saints. Smith was a self-taught artist who had converted to Catholicism in prison before coming to Eastern State. When Father Edwin Gallagher, Eastern State’s Catholic Chaplain, witnessed Smith painting, he invited him to apply his talents and passion to enhance the Catholic Chaplain’s Office. Smith covered nearly every available space of the walls with Catholic imagery. Most striking is the kneeling prisoner seeking reconciliation through confession. This image speaks to the depth of Lester Smith’s faith.
These beautiful murals remain a moving testament to the story of one inmate who underwent a powerful change while in prison. It is our goal to save the paintings so we can share them with our visitors, now more than 130,000 annually. Opening the Catholic Chaplain’s Office will also allow us to broaden our discussion of spiritual life at Eastern State, a subject of deep importance to many of the men and women who lived behind these walls.
Preservation Progress
In the summer 2010, five preservation graduate students conducted basic level architectural conservation. They helped prepare the building for the major work ahead in 2011 by analyzing the original interior paint colors and the formula for the brick mortar joints, removing harmful plaster from an exterior wall as preparation for re-pointing the brick, lifting the floorboards to investigate the underlying construction, scraping the loose lead paint from the interior walls and woodwork, and repairing two original windows.
We also installed a new skylight in the room over the murals. It is now easier to see the paintings and make out more details. In addition, paintings conservator Cassie Myers conducted two test areas to better understand the best method for removing the protective tissue paper and the wax and grime obscuring the images. Her work revealed vivid colors – a teaser of what we will see once the conservation is complete.
In early spring 2011, we conducted emergency triage to save the Penitent Prisoner, the poignant signature image of this project, by removing the mural from the crumbling wall beneath it. This preventative step protected the painting from further damage as Eastern State moves forward with conserving the building. It will return once the Chaplain’s Office has the stable interior environment necessary for the conservation and long-term care of the murals.
The next step is to repair the extremely deteriorated floor and re-point the exterior brick walls, and repair the roof and skylights.
Catholic Life at Eastern State
As the Catholic inmate population at Eastern State grew in the mid to late 1800s, a period of rising anti-Catholic sentiment, Philadelphia’s Catholic community feared attempts to convert Catholic inmates. The community’s response began with the assignment of priests by the Archdiocese and expanded with the involvement of the nearby Church of the Gesu. By the turn of the century, lay leaders had formed the American Society for Visiting Catholic Prisoners which sent volunteers to assist with ministering to Eastern State’s growing population of Catholics from a variety of immigrant groups.
The early twentieth century saw two watershed events for the ability of Catholic inmates to practice their faith. In 1902, Eastern State permitted the first Catholic confirmation and used the Warden’s Office as a makeshift chapel. Fifty-four hooded inmates were escorted into the space to receive communion from Archbishop Patrick J. Ryan.
Once Eastern State abandoned the separate confinement system and became a congregate facility, group worship finally became possible. Inmates celebrated the penitentiary’s first mass in 1914 390 inmates participated. Eventually the upper floor of the Industrial Building became the site of weekly Sunday mass and Eastern State hired a full-time Catholic Chaplain.
