The Holmesburg Prison, located on Torresdale Avenue in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvana, was in operation from 1896 to 1995[i].
When interstate 95 was put through the city of Philadelphia, it ran right next
to the walls of Holmesburg Prison.
What does a prison have to do with genealogy? No, I have not
located a Black Sheep … yet, rather it is something to show the logic and humor
interwoven into my father’s every day conversations.
Whenever we would pass the prison Dad would say, “Oh, look,
there’s the college.” I was fascinated by the ancient walls separating the “college”
from the community; it reminded me of a princess’s castle. I wanted to go to
school there, I would work hard and get scholarships to attend the school of my
dreams.
One day, as we drove on I-95, passed the prison I said to
Mom and Grandmom Keckler, “I want to go to college there!”
Grandmom responded with, “That’s not a college it’s a
prison! Who told you it’s a college?”
I closed my mouth, embarrassed by this interaction, and
somehow knowing that Dad would be in trouble for this. Yet, Mom spoke up, “Her
father did.”
Grandmom was not at all enthused by his sense of humor, but
she never said a word to him. She didn’t need to, because the next time we
passed the prison with Dad in the car, he pointed out the “college.” At which
time I happened to see a police car in the northbound lanes, and I said, “Yup,
and look, there’s a professor driving the other way.”
And so Dad laughed and realized he’d been found out, but Dad
wasn’t completely wrong, and this realization came to me just today, when I
read a Wikipedia article about the prison. It seems the prison was wrought with
controversy over the unethical experimentation on prisoners. So, it may not
have been a college, but it was certainly a research center.
Dad wasn’t so far off in his humor, and his knowledge of the
controversial studies was built up in his humor. Funny, how it took me thirty
years to learn I wasn’t being duped after all, I was learning the truth without
being told the truth.
[i] Wikipedia-
Holmesburg Prison: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmesburg_Prison
accessed November 20, 2013.
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