by J. Nathan Matias

Locate the Nodes

Visitors don't have to feel lost within the Eastern State Penitentiary, at least not if they don't want to. Simply push a button on the audio device, and the first audio segment will play. The audio clips give directions to those who want to begin with an guided tour.

The Voices of Eastern State is an excellent way to explore the museum. The penitentiary's audio production is effective. The history and stories of the prison are told by a voice actor, former inmates, and prison employees. Background music sets the mood.

The audio tour initially tells visitors where to walk, directing them through the main areas of the prison until they get a basic bearing. Along the way, visitors hear about the planning and creation of the penitentiary. As visitors walk through the cell block, the audio tour refers to illustrations mounted on the walls or displays inside the cells themselves.

At other, topic-focused museums, the act of imagining/experiencing story is reinforced by including primary material. Here, where the facility itself is the corpus of primary material, the roles are reversed; the experience of visiting the buildings is reinforced by imagining and experiencing included stories.

Five types of storytelling units emerge.

The first type is connected with the audio stops. During the main tour, prominent signs tell visitors what numbers to press on their audio devices. But over two-thirds of the audio locations aren't in the main tour. To hear the whole story of the penitentiary, visitors must explore.

Secondly, photographs, text, and other media (including some scale models) can be found mounted on the walls and inside cells. These physical displays operate much like display panes in the Holocaust Museum, although they are much less strict or elaborate. Often, they are accompanied by related audio from The Voices of Eastern State. The Building History exhibits, which are found in three different locations within the prison, consist of stories and information mined from Eastern State's archives and historical collections.

The third type of node is a cell itself. Many cells are decaying wrecks of peeling paint and rubble, but others have been cleaned out and turned into exhibit areas. During some parts of the guided audio tour, cells on either side of the hallway form a naturally-contrapuntal narrative path.

The last two types of storytelling in Eastern State encourage people to actively interpret and artistically interact with the prison buildings. Eastern State fosters a very active art program, encouraging artists to install creative projects within the prison. These projects need not be about the history of Eastern State, but they need to relate to the prison in meaningful ways. Finally, Eastern State encourages visitors to create their own art by promoting photography within the prison.