Interior of new dining room, State Penitentiary, Lincoln
Description
Prisoners sit at two rows of wooden tables facing the far wall in this 6-1/2" x 4" black and white plate. The dining tables are only wide enough for one person. At the front of the room, men, presumably officers of the penitentiary, stand overlooking the inmates. Globe light fixtures hang from the ceiling.
Excerpted from: "Twenty-third Biennial Report of the Warden of the State Penitentiary, Lincoln, Nebraska" in First Biennial Report of the Board of Commissioners of State Institutions to the Governor and Legislature of the State of Nebraska for the Biennium Ending November 30, 1914 (Lincoln: Nebraska Board of Commissioners of State Institutions, 1914), plate between pp. 416-417
Historical Notes
In the new dining facilities, prisoners ate off of china instead of tin. An average daily menu consisted of: "Breakfast--Fried breakfast bacon, brown gravy, fried potatoes, wheat bread, coffee; Dinner--Roast pork, boiled navy beans, stewed turnips, coffee; Supper--Cottage fried potatoes, brown gravy, hot biscuits, syrup, tea." Further statistics and information can be found in the report.
