Lecture Series Explores: Behind the Walls of Lorton Prison

For the third year in a row, the Workhouse Prison Museum has put together a free public lecture series detailing life at the Lorton Prison.

The Workhouse Prison Museum, located at the Workhouse Arts Center, was opened in 2009 and is entirely supported by private contributions. The Museum was created to present an overview of some of the interesting and significant events that took place at the District of Columbia’s Correctional Complex at Lorton from its opening in 1910 until the last prisoner left in 2001. A $10 donation is suggested for attending these lectures.

Details:

· Inside the Criminal Mind: Jan. 14 at 7:30 pm. Speaker Roger L. Depue, retired chief of the FBI Behavioral Science Unit and a master criminal profiler.

· Coping with Life Behind Bars: Art and Music: Feb. 11 at 7:30 pm. A panel discussion about the liberating and rehabilitative power of art. A special display of art created by DC Prisoners will be on view.

· Keeping Sane While Doing Time: Religion, Counseling and Social Services: March 11 at 7:30 pm. Dr. Elwood Gray, founder and president of The National Coalition; of Prison Ministries, shares his experience with inmates and their families at Lorton. A panel of prison caseworkers will discuss the role of a counselor in the correctional system.

· Fires, Riots and Escapes: Lorton in the Public Eye: April 8 at 7:30 pm. A panel of administrators, firemen and correctional officers will discuss actions at the Lorton prison in the last years of the 20th Century.

· Life After Prison: April 29 at 7:30pm. Two panel discussions with former officials and parole officers about the reintegration of inmates into the real world community.

Photo courtesy of the Orsinger Collection at the Workhouse Prison Museum.