Prison Museums in Soviet Russia in the 1920s

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the history of early Soviet prison museums which were opened and operated at research institutes and penitentiaries in the 1920s. It proposes to consider these museums within the context of positivist criminology that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century. The increasing interest in criminal and prison culture motivated scholars and enthusiasts to collect and exhibit objects related to criminals and prisoners. Developing the model of the criminological museum, the Soviet prison museum pursued not only a purely scientific goal but had different functions. By comparing the Soviet penal system to its Tsarist counterpart, prison museums emphasized the revolutionary and emancipatory nature of the former. Representing artifacts (playing cards, tattoos, hand-made prison tools) and the rules of inmate subcultures, museum expositions condemned it as symbols of the old Tsarist prison. The exhibitions with prison factory products (manufactured goods and handicrafts) and samples of inmate initiatives and creativity (newspapers, journals or artwork) had to demonstrate the progressiveness of Soviet penitentiaries, rehabilitating criminals through labor and education. While historians neglected this topic, the article raises questions about the origins and functions of Soviet prison museums for the first time in historiography. The research is based on previously unstudied sources including archival documents, academic publications, museum guides, as well as newspaper and journal articles.