AN ORAL HISTORY OF DR. BENNET COOPER, FIRST DIRECTOR OF THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF REHABILITATION AND CORRECTIONS

Dr. Bennett Joseph Cooper:

The Man, Vision and Correctional Legacy

Interviewer and Author

Jeffrey E. Carson
April 2006

Article is copyrighted 2009.  All rights pertain.

Introduction

“No baby is born smoking, drinking, using profanity, racial and ethnic slurs. We are all born with a mind focused on selfish survival tendencies. Our mind, like a blanket, picks up lint like thoughts from other people and our environment as we tread through this rustic road of life. Then, one day, we pick off and discard some lint like thoughts and we keep other lint like thoughts thus shaping and modeling our destined personality. After much influence that baby becomes a grown up and “they themselves are makers of themselves.” Jeffrey E. Carson February 9, 2000

The National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice (NABCJ) – Ohio Chapter, an Affiliate of the American Corrections Association and largest Chapter of NABCJ held its 18th Annual Training and Conference at the Fairborn Holiday Inn near Dayton, Ohio from October 23 – 25, 2005. I was the outgoing President of the State Chapter and prior to the conference I asked that the Conference Chair and State Vice President Andrea Dean to invite all former NABCJ – Ohio Chapter past Presidents and their families for recognition and comments. Usually on the last day of the conference, which happens to have been October 25, 2005, there is a Dr. Bennett Cooper Scholarship Luncheon and during this luncheon the organization gives out 3 – 6 scholarships at $500 a piece to students pursuing an education in Criminal Justice.

The first president of the Ohio Chapter, chartered in 1987, was Dr. Reginald Wilkinson. He attended this conference and the chapter established the Dr. Reginald A. Wilkinson Second Chance Ex-offender Scholarship in his honor. He spoke to the conference attendees in a most eloquent manner then looked at the Cooper family for what seemed like moments suspended in eternity. Former Director Wilkinson was hired by Bennett Cooper in 1972 as a Volunteer Coordinator at the Lebanon prison. Over the years Bennett Cooper has been his mentor and friend. Reggie will retire from the department on May 1, 2006, after serving 33 years as a corrections employee and 15 of those years as the Director. A $500 scholarship was given to an Ex-Offender attending Sinclair Community College. The second President of the Ohio Chapter was Billy Russell and he was given a President’s lifetime achievement Award. He stood beside Reggie Wilkinson and both gave remarks then gave credit to Dr. Bennett Cooper for giving them a chance, exposing them to NABCJ and ACA and for paving the way for thousands of corrections professionals of all cultures, nationalities and gender. This year as in other years, there was a special table set up for Dr. Bennett Cooper and his family.

Suddenly, a thunderous applaud erupted as over 450 Criminal Justice professionals attending the conference stood on their feet as a tall, 6’3”, 200 pound, distinguished man with a slight limp made his way to the podium. He was almond in color and has dark piecing eyes with a slightly pointed nose and a gracious smile dotted his face. Vice President Dean introduced the man, the legend and the visionary. He was the first Director and first Black Director in the United States of a State Department of Rehabilitation and Correction agency after being the Division of Correction under the Department of mental Hygiene and Correction prior to 1972.

Bennett Cooper has been retired from Corrections and government service since 1983; however, just to mention his name in correctional circles still brings about smiles, fond memories, remembrances of Correctional war stories, cutting edge community reintegration concepts, taking a chance and hiring ex-offenders, insisting on innovative programming for release preparation as well as the many heroic efforts and changes that he has influenced to help offenders transition from prison to community that remain in effect today in Ohio corrections and throughout the United States. Those efforts have caused organizations such as the Ohio Wardens Association, North American Wardens and Superintendents Association, American Corrections Association, Ohio Correctional Courts and Services Association, Correctional Education Associations and many others to give him a standing ovation when he attends an event or someone mentions merely his name. After acknowledging the Officers, and former NABCJ presidents in attendance, he asked his wife Zelda, his children Bernice, Eileen, and Bennett jr., their spouse and guests to stand because, “My family has supported me and tolerated me while I tried to help and provide opportunities to others.”

This Oral history is an attempt to share the life of Bennett Joseph Cooper and the leadership, vision and legacy that he imparted to corrections and the criminal justice field. He was born in Cleveland.

By 1920, Cleveland was one of the major manufacturing and population centers of the United States, and was home to numerous major steel firms. Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller made his fortune in Cleveland, and by 1921, it was the fifth largest city in the country and the birthplace of Bennett Joseph Cooper.

The Man

“I moved from Worthington, Ohio to Cincinnati, Ohio on Farm Acres Drive in 2005 so that I can be closer to kids and family. I have problems with my knees and my wife is a diabetic.” He showed me a 10 inch scar on his right leg knee area and scars on his left knee. He continued, “my children and other relatives reside in the Cincinnati are and his sister in law with special needs resides with me and my wife. Before I had problems with my sugar, I use to like any kind of ice cream. I have to watch what I eat now. My favorite food is fried oysters, especially a po’ boy sandwich. Hobby? Well, I did use to collect coins. I guess that would be a hobby. Although most of the time, my hobby was my job. There is a story behind the coin collection story. When I was the Superintendent at the Ohio State reformatory, my family lived in the state prison houses located on the prison grounds and we were permitted to have ‘Houseboys’ that cleaned our houses. I did not permit the Houseboy to clean my house when nobody was at home. Well, one day I took my family to Cleveland to do some visiting, shopping or whatever, and told my staff not to send the Houseboy to my house. One of the Houseboys convinced an employee that I told him to clean my house and staff believed the inmate. Anyway, the inmate stole my coins and escaped. We caught him several days later in Boston. I am not sure how long after that incident I quit collecting coins. Of course, when I was able, I loved playing golf. I would play golf every opportunity that I could play.

I have had a lot of awards and honors but they are all packed away in boxes but I am most proud of being a recipient of the E.R. Cass Award from the American Correction Association which is one of the highest correctional awards one can receive.

Well, let me see, the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice (NABCJ) organization has named a Scholarship Golf Outing after me. I think this Scholarship Outing was formed in about 1989 under the leadership of then State NABCJ President Billy Russell, now retired Community Corrections Director, Robert O.E. Keyes, Columbus Affiliate Chair and Chief of the Business area of the department, and Larry Jones, Recreation Administrator at the Orient Prison. I remember that there was discussion whether to have the 4th Annual Dr. Outing because earlier in the year there was a riot at the Lucasville prison on Easter Sunday 1993 and the department was still investigating and resolving the matter which received national media attention. A riot is devastating to all correctional employees, community, government, families, inmates and heightened in the media. The decision was made to have the Outing because some employees would need the break, and lecture activity. It was held at the Bent Tree Golf club in Sunbury, Ohio on August 28, 1993. “We looked at some pictures of the Outing. “Me, my family, friends and corrections folks still get together at this Outing and I always hit the first ball but I can not play anymore because of my knees. I always say to myself that I am going to hit that first ball even if it kills me.” He laughs heartily! “I always meet with the coordinators and the State President to get status participation updates, and I always bring 4 – 6 teams. In fact last year you (Jeff Carson the NABCJ State President in 2005), Harry Colson, 2005 Coordinator, Hanson Perese, Golf Coordinator, and Charles Davis, Outing Photographer met several times last year at the Pig Iron Restaurant on North High Street in Columbus. This is my favorite restaurant and I usually order a Po’ Boy sandwich made with my favorite food ‘oysters.’ Well, the participants, my family, friends, employees and business associates play golf and give out scholarships in October every year at the NABCJ – Ohio Chapter Dr. Bennett Cooper Scholarship Awards Banquet. Like I said, I always have the honor of hitting the first ball, and then I drive around socializing on a golf cart and make sure everybody story is having a great time.”

From 1989 to 2005 over 45 scholarships or about $23,000, have been given out to students pursing a criminal justice education that Dr. Cooper believes in so dearly. This includes a $1,000 Scholarship to the Yvonne Pointer International Scholarship Fund in 2004. Yvonne provides a Scholarship to a worthy student in Africa. She is a Victim Advocate and Presidential Points of Light recipient, Author and Motivational speaker from Cleveland, Ohio.

“You know I never thought about getting awards and recognitions. I just tried to do my best and be about the business of pursuing excellence in whatever I tried to do. But having something named after you that help people – well, that type of honor makes you feel kind of fuzzy inside.”

“The NABCJ National also has a Bennett Cooper Awards Banquet named after me since I made a speech at the Blacks and Criminal Justice Systems Conference at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama on February 25, 1974 and challenged educators and criminal justice professionals to form an organization to address issues of diversity, conditions, programs, training, recruitment, retention and mentoring. Immediately the speech, a feasibility group of professions and educators was established and this group formed NABCJ. I gave the charge to form an organization and a group of folks responded and created NABCJ. “

“I was born on June 3, 1921 in Cleveland, Ohio. Woodrow Wilson, the twenty-eight President of the United States was in his last year of Presidency when I was born. No, no - I can not remember the name of the hospital and I doubt that anybody alive now can remember what hospital or Doctor if any birthed me. Some people had mid wives to birth a baby and Doctors would verify the baby’s birth. Of course that was 85 years ago.” He laughed then smiled! As his wife Zelda asked me if I wanted something to drink. I said, “Yes, I will have a diet coke or anything diet if you have it.” She smiled and said “I am a diabetic so yes we have plenty of diet drinks.” Bennett continued. “I was born with an identical twin name Emmett jr. to Emmett Sr. and Lydia (Jones) Cooper. My father, Emmett Sr., was a Pharmaceutical Chemist who traveled around a lot to different states and my mother, Lydia, was a school teacher. My grandfather’s name is Jesse Cooper. I can not remember my grandmother’s name. We lived in of course Cleveland, Oh, Chicago, Illinois, Muskogee, Oklahoma and New Orleans, Louisiana. My brother Emmett and I often visited Muskogee because my grandmother and other relatives lived there. We especially enjoyed visiting during the summers. In fact, we ended up graduating from the Manual Training High School in Muskogee. Most people probably would not have heard about this small rural town had it not been for a Merle Haggard song called “Okie from Muskogee” that was popular in 1969 I believe.

After graduating from High School in Muskogee, I enrolled in Langston University. After attending that University for about 1 year, my father transferred to New Orleans, Louisiana and I transferred to a Catholic school Xavier University in New Orleans. I met my wife Zelda while at Xavier University in about 1939 and what do you know, well, I find out that she is an identical twin as well! In the meantime as luck would have it, my father again transferred. Zelda R. Cooper was born on February 26, 1921 in New Orleans. This time my father transferred back to Cleveland and three years later in 1942, I married Zelda in Cleveland. Zelda was born on February 26, 1921. My brother Emmett and I are Identical Twins, and we married identical twins Zelda (to Bennett) and Ermelda (to Emmett now deceased) both from New Orleans.

The United States was involved with World War II in 1943. I worked at the Cleveland Defense Depot trying to support the war effort as the rest of Americans at that time and I attended college at night at Western Reserves College. I have a new family and of course I did not want to go to war but I figured if duty called, then, I would honor my commitment as an American citizen to enlist. Anyway duty did call”, he smiled, “and I did my duty by enlisting in the U.S. Army Corps on February 19, 1943 for a 3 year enlistment with a stipulation of enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus 6 months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to the law. The branch was called “Branch Immaterial – Warrant Officers, U.S.A. according to my enlistment papers. I entered boot Camp of course as an enlisted man Private. At the time of my enlistment, I was 6’3” and about 161 pounds. I just figured that I would do my best and make it a priority to return home safe to my family. The Army was segregated during that time but I figured that I would get a good job because of my 3 years of college. My first child, Bennett J. Cooper jr. was born while I away in the Army on October 31, 1943. You know I attended basic training with all Black recruits at Jefferson Barrack in Missouri. This was one of the places where Black soldiers trained. I guess that they decide where you train based upon your state of military commitment.

My initial Military Occupation Series (MOS) was Water Purification and Security and I attended Water Purification School after boot camp. Shortly after attending that school, the Army was starting a new Air Corp Engineering Aviation Battalion in Florida and there was talk about trying to integrate the various Army units, so a group of us Blacks, about 20 Black soldiers from Jefferson Barrack, were assigned to a White Officer and assigned to McDill Field in Florida. Yeah, at that time, the White Officers supervised the Black Units. I had been in the Army for 6 months when we arrived to McDill, one of the White Officers asked the 20 Black soldiers ‘who can type?’ and me and another Black soldier immediately raised our hand and both of us got assigned to Battalion Headquarters as a Clerk.

Once I applied to be an Officer and because of my education, I had a pretty good chance of being selected and attending Officers Candidate School. I met the qualifications, education and recommendation requirements. I was given a medical examination and I was denied due to high blood pressure. I said ‘well then let me out of the service if I am medically unqualified to become an Officer’ and they said ‘NO!’ and would not let me out of the service. But later I was promoted several grades.” He wittingly said, “Now that I think about it, I have accomplished a lot with that high darn so called high blood pressure and I am still here in 2006 at almost 85 years old. Uhmm…. Where was I? Oh, Oh yeah, after being in Florida for 6 months, I was promoted to Sergeant Major because of my education, qualifications, leadership ability, MOS, and other skills. I always suspected that my denial of acceptance to Officer Candidate School because of ‘high blood pressure’ was really based upon race. It is unfortunately a sign of the times. Anyway later on, the Army gave me a small percentage of disability for the high blood pressure. I was overseas 2 years when I was transferred back state side to the General Hospital in Cambridge, Ohio. I tried to reenlist but they wouldn’t let me due to a sinus infection. I received disability of 50%, then 30%, and finally 0% but upon appeal, I received 30% again.

During my Army career, I was transferred to Seattle, Washington, Hickam Field, Hawaii, Saipan, Okinawa and other places and islands in the Pacific. On one occasion when I was a Master Sergeant they wanted me to go in caves and seek out Japanese. I was not excited about this duty but ended up getting a transfer to Hawaii and there were no Japanese in caves in Hawaii. I received an honorable discharge in 1946. I returned to Cleveland to be with my family, and resume my college pursuit while working at the Post Office as a Clerk. My brother Emmett enlisted in the Army one year after I enlisted in 1944 and served his three years and got out in 1947.

He also returned to Cleveland and was also employed at the Post office and attended Western Reserve College at night. My brother and I were pretty close and we had different interests but always a desire to help people, design systems and excel in whatever we pursued. We enjoyed breaking barriers and setting high standards so that others could benefit from a good reputation of those before them. We both believed strongly in getting as much education as you could.

I received my Bachelors degree from Western Reserve College with a degree in Psychology in 1949 and I received my Masters in Psychology in 1952, then, attended some post graduate school and trainings.

My children have their own career and all three have pursued and obtained their educational pursuits. Bennett J. Cooper jr. is the Director of the Central Community Mental Health Board of Hamilton County. He has 4 children. Bernice Washington is the Executive Director of the SUMA Youth Group. She is divorced and has 3 children. Eileen Cooper Reed is married to Jim Reed, a retired Proctor and Gamble Executive and she is an Attorney, past assistant Prosecuting Attorney, past Juvenile Referee and she was elected to the school Board and now serves on the Cincinnati School Board. She has 4 children.

My brother Emmett had the same disease as the ‘Greatest’ Mohammed Ali. I can’t remember the….Uhmm, Uhm, yeah, Parkinson’s disease. He died at the age of 79 on August 20, 2000. He then had moved to and lived in Forest Park, a Cincinnati suburb in Hamilton County. He lived his last days in a Nursing home, but he truly lived a wonderful life, he helped and mentored many postal employees of all colors, men and women, and - he was my brother.” He paused to reflect for a moment with his head down, and then he said, “Emmett and I moved up fairly quickly through the Post Office ranks back in 1947. I served as the Office Staff Superintendent under the general superintendent of mail and I was promoted to Survey Superintendent working out of the Post Master’s Office. My brother and I were credited and recognized for devising and implementing the first formalized training program for new postal employees.

One time in 1956 just before I left the Postal service to pursue a career in Corrections, my brother and I were being considered for the same promotional postal management position. I figured that we were Army Veterans, highly educated, appropriately experienced and equally and eminently qualified for the position. No Black had previously held the position so one of us had to get the position. This was definitely an opportunity to break the racial glass ceiling in the postal management system which consisted of mostly White males. They interviewed us and said we were equally qualified, so I made it an easy for the Postal superiors to choose Emmett I went in and told them that– I am going to make this an easy choice - I quit! Emmett got the job. He went on to become a Director of Personnel in Cleveland, member of the Board of Appeals and Review in the U.S. Post Office Department. Emmett served as manager of the Detroit Postal District and was appointed, Regional Postmaster General in Chicago, Postmaster for the City of Chicago in 1973 and Southeastern Regional Post Master General in Memphis Tennessee in the ‘80s. In 1974, Emmett was selected Postmaster of the year by the Direct Mail/Marketing Association. He retired in 1984, about one year after I retired in 1983 and he eventually moved to Cincinnati where he lived his last days. We were cited in many newspapers and magazines as successful twins. We have been in the Ebony Magazine 3 times. I believe that it was 1948, 1967 and 1975.

The Western Reserve College Alumni magazine wrote an article about us in 1975.” He hands me a copy of the magazine. It read, ‘Bennett and Emmett Cooper have a lot in common – their parents, birthday, U.S. Army three years during World War II 1 year apart, Western Reserves (now Case Western Reserves) College graduates – Bennett in 1951 and Emmett in 1952 and both majored in psychology and have worked their way to the top of every career they choose.

The twin brothers worked at the Post Office in Cleveland, Ohio while they attended college. After graduating, Emmett continued working at the post office and worked a second job or “moon lighted on weekends as a therapist working with narcotics addicts at the Ohio State Reformatory.

Bennett left the Post Office to become a Chief Psychologist at the Ohio State Reformatory in 1957. He eventually served as Deputy Superintendent, Superintendent and Department of mental Health and Hygiene Division of Corrections Commissioner and first Director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.’

I believe that true professionals should join professional organizations so I got involved with the American Correction Association shortly after I joined correction in 1957. This is a professional corrections association that had been in existence for more than 87 years at that time and about 135 years today. The American Correctional Association has always been a champion of the cause of corrections and correctional effectiveness. It was founded in 1870 as the National Prison Association, and is the oldest association developed specifically for practitioners in the correctional profession. It was founded in an organizational meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the assembly elected then-Ohio Governor and future President Rutherford B. Hayes as the first President of the Association.”

The Declaration of Principles developed at the first meeting in 1870 became the guidelines for corrections in the United States and Europe. At the ACA centennial meeting in 1970, a revised act of Principles, reflecting advances in theory and practice, was adopted by the Association. At the 1954 Congress of Correction in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the name of the American Prison Association was changed to the American Correctional Association, reflecting the expanding philosophy of corrections and its increasingly important role within the community and society as a whole.

“A friend of mine that I met in Missouri was the head of Social Services at the Mansfield prison and he told me that they were looking for a Psychologist. I had 3 kids and a wife and I just quit the Post Office job, so I applied and was hired as the Chief Psychologist in 1957 at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. I was the highest ranking Black and was responsible for classification, assessment, programming and assignment of young offenders in prisons and honor camps in Mansfield, Mount Vernon and Sandusky. I created programs and opportunities for offenders to get ready to leave the prison prepared to take care of themselves without re-offending. A lot of staff and offenders had the zeal and motivation to try new things.” I said to him, “Zeal should never over shadow knowledge. Knowledge should lead and partner with the able and capable Field Commander of zeal in order to inspire an ignoble vision. And that you did Dr. Cooper.” He nodded his head and said, “You are right on the mark, and that is why I encouraged training, education and vocation for staff and inmates. The department when I was hired was actually a Division of Corrections with a Commissioner of the Division under the Department of Mental Hygiene and Corrections with Martin Janis as the Director. I served as Chief psychologist from 1957 until 1963 when I was promoted to Associate Warden of Treatment.

As Associate Warden, I was responsible for treatment, programming, education, social services, vocational schools, inmate groups, condition of confinement and management of department heads. Racial segregation was everywhere in job assignments, training, food services, cell assignments and other places. I disagreed with the segregation policies of the administration, officers and inmates. I always asked the staff why we are allowing segregation. A White ‘fella’ that I went to Western Reserve College with name Ray Schultz was a Supervisor over Social Services and he also opposed racial segregation policies. He worked with me to challenge discriminatory and racial practices of rules, Officers and inmates. Ray died in 2005.

There were about 50 cells in a row on each range. There were designated White only ranges and Black only and other minorities ranges. This separation course caused some staff to treat the inmates different when we should have been treating them all the same based upon individual safety and security concerns. Ray and I would ask the Superintendent and other staff ‘Why don’t we mix the races?’ We allowed visitors to bring in food and packages containing authorized items and the visiting room was segregated. I asked ‘Why don’t we have a segregated Visiting room?’ The cafeteria where the inmates ate was segregated and I continued asking ‘Why? Why? Why?’ I never did receive an adequate answer. Some staff started to agree with the mingling of the races and equal treatment of inmates in all areas.

In 1966, I was about 6 feet 3.5 inches and about 230 pounds when I was appointed Superintendent of the Ohio State Reformatory which housed first felony offenders between the ages of 16 to 30. I am believed to be the first Negro appointed as Superintendent of a State Correctional Prison. Martin Janis, Director of the Ohio Department of Mental Hygiene and Corrections, who was my ultimate boss when I was appointed Superintendent, said that I was the first Negro to head the executive staff of any State prison in the nation. Whatever the case may be, I became Superintendent of 2,100 inmates and 400 prison employees on December 1, 1966. At that time, the former Superintendent and about 10 -12 guards and other prison staff lived in rooms located the front half of the actual prison. They lived, ate, worked and slept in the prison. This area was located in the Administrative Wing of the prison and was separated by doors and gates. I told the Director and Commissioner that I did not want my family living in the actual prison building so they gave me the nicest house on the prison grounds which was located in the front of the old prison now referred to as Old Mansfield and is on the Historical Building registry.

Ohio governor James Rhodes made a number of key Negro appointments when he took office in 1963. He appointed me to the Superintendent job after his reelection in November, 1966. Governor Rhodes described me as “eminently qualified” for this important position and race, creed or color was not a factor. I was promoted on the basis of my qualifications and I set out to prove that I was the best man for the job.

I keep reminding people that I am an educated and trained observer of people, which is a psychologist with a bachelor and master’s degree from Western Reserve University located in my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. Furthermore, I brought considerable experience with me in the field of personnel relations when I entered the field of corrections in 1957, having been employed in supervisory positions in the Cleveland Post Office. In that position, I was responsible for dealing with personnel problems and employee training issues. My background and education allowed me to be able and fit for my role as a Corrections professional and Superintendent responsible for the day to day administration of penology concerns and demands.”

When I became Warden, I began to address the issue of increased staff diversity, training, education of inmates and staff and aggressively confronting this ever present and ugly issue of racial segregation and discrimination. I again asked the Officers and Supervisors ‘Why do we segregate inmates?’ This time they had to answer and support their answer with facts since I was now the Superintendent. They responded, ‘If we mingle the races, then, we will have trouble.’ Since that was they only answer I got, I mandated that when the inmates enter the cafeteria, they would be seated by the Officer at the first and next available seat regardless of race. Of course the Officers had problems with this, probably based upon their own bias, but I went to the cafeteria every day and at every chow call to make sure that this policy was enforced. I would personally tell the inmates after they received their chow, ‘Come on in and sit at the next available table. Thank you.’ Needless to say, there were no problems at all. Next, I order the integration of the cell ranges then integrated cell assignments. I would tell the staff and inmates about my decisions and expectations and I would walk around the entire prison talking to inmates and staff about the changes and expectations. I told the inmates that have direct assess to me about any problem.

The Ohio Penal Industry (OPI) use to make tobacco and a cigarette paper called a ‘kite’. The cigarette papers had a card board like cover shaped like a wide cross covering the cigarette papers. We did not always give inmates paper so they would write notes and requests to staff on the kite cover and fold it back up then write the staff’s name on the outside of the kite cover then send it to the staff to consider the request. Staff started writing their response on the kite cover, then; send it back to the inmate with the answer. We called this ‘flying a kite.’ Later the department adopted this method with the same design as a formal and informal way for inmates to contact staff and staff were required to respond back to them on this kite. We developed a form called a kite eventually and it is produced by OPI. I told staff that when a kite is addressed to me, do not open it. I will open my own kites and respond directly to the inmate. Other supervisors would assign staff to open and respond to kites and sometimes, they were not aware of the request, concern, and response or whether there was a response.

I kept noticing that only Black inmates worked shoveling coal on the coal piles. Coal was the way we fueled the prison and farms. Working on the coal pile was considered an undesirable and dirty job but it had to be done but not by only Black inmates. I again asked ‘Why?’ and staff told me, ‘The Black inmates like and want to shovel the coal pile together’. I told the Staff Supervisor that Staff should determine where inmate’s work not inmates! I asked the inmates and they said the same thing so I told them the same thing as I told Staff. I advised staff and inmates that all inmates need to be assessed for education and skills then assigned to a job to reinforce that training and skill so that they can get a job upon release. Again, I personally advised the staff and inmates of the changes, and it worked out fine. After that dictate, I appointed someone to monitor job assignments by race and advise me of the racial balance of jobs, education, cell assignments, and everything else that I could think of.

We looked at some corrections reports and newsletters and found that in 1966, Martin Janis was Director of the Department of Mental Hygiene and Correction (DMHC); S.K. Armstrong retired as Assistant Director and was replaced by Lynn R. Timmons as Acting Assistant Director. M.C. Koblentz was Chief of the Division of Corrections, M.J. Koloski and B.C. Sacks were the two Assistant Chiefs of the Division. The Superintendents and Wardens were Superintendents W.D. Salisbury, Chillicothe, Charles Vancurren, Lebanon, E.B. Haskins, London, E.P. Perini (former Football professional) Marion, Miss Martha Wheeler, Ohio Reformatory for Women, me at OSR and Warden Harold j. Cardwell at the Ohio Penitentiary. George Denton was the Chief of the Adult Parole Authority and Irvin Howerton was the Manager of the Ohio Penal Industries.

I had been involved with ACA since my employment in 1957. Being involved with ACA was a struggle. Race in American period in 1957 was a struggle.

The Superintendent left and me and a fella name Myron Koloski, the other Associate Superintendent of OSR, were being considered for the Superintendent. There was a lot of discussion of personnel moves and personality issues. It was finally decided that I would become the Superintendent of OSR and Myron would be appointed as Superintendent of the Chillicothe prison. The decision of course pleased me and probably some staff and inmates who liked what I was trying to do.

On my first day on the job, I began working on a plan for inmates to take college courses from Ashland College; getting community jobs for inmates, and establishing a Pre-release inmate program. I told staff to be creative, innovated and to think different and fairly. I had a Chaplain that approached me and asked to bring 4 inmates on a 2 day overnight Friday and Saturday religious retreat. I started to hurry up and say ‘NO’ but I caught myself and heard my own words, ‘think differently and fairly’. These were minimum security inmate eligible for honor camp so I said what the heck. I told the Chaplain that he was personally responsible for bringing these inmates back when it was time to bring them back. Well, the Chaplain calls me on a Sunday morning and I was thinking that it was not good news. He said, ‘Boss, I have 3 of the 4 inmates’ and I told him, ‘Well go out and find the other one before you come back to the prison and call me when you have him’. He joyously called me back 3 hours later and said, ‘I found him sitting on the dock with his feet in the water praying and glorifying God’.

I loosened the place up and got the community behind the prison. I had a Black female secretary named Mrs. Ellen Mitchell. She was very efficient and effective and helped ease my transition as Superintendent. She was the most qualified. I promoted Bernard Barton to the Associate Superintendent of Treatment and a Black male name Dr. John Gaskins, Wilberforce and Howard Dental School graduate, as the Dental Director. The expected culture of integration and diversity were mandated in every area. I insisted that we do our best and hired the most qualified. Equal opportunity was available for every one, every color, race, gender in ever field such as the hiring of guards, teachers, social workers, supervisors – I mean every area.

The Mansfield prison was also Reception Center for incoming inmates. During reception orientation inmates received psychological assessments, classification assignment, and a needs assessment, and they received information about education, rules, programs, visiting, vocational training and college. Inmates had an opportunity to be involved with skills that are transferable to the community such as arts and crafts, welding, printing, radio and television repair, auto mechanic certification, small engine repair, boiler operator, electrical, drafting, agriculture, book keeping, accounting and other skills. I implemented a program so that the inmates could help give the newly arriving inmates orientation about the prison programs and activities. They also helped them with problems or concerns.

After the inmates and staff gave orientation to the inmates, I would speak to the inmates in reception every Monday morning so that they can hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. I would tell them ‘I am the boss –right or wrong – I am responsible’. I wanted to make sure every inmate and all staff heard this same message. I would also tell them that all of my kites are confidential and I am the only person to open the kite and I personally respond to all kites. All inmates and majority of staff use to speak with me and shake my hand or they would nod and say, ‘Hello Warden’ even though we were called Superintendents at that time.

I started an Inmate Executive Committee. This group of 10 inmates would talk to me and my staff weekly about prison issues and concerns. I met with them every Saturday morning to discuss and resolve issues. This meeting was with just me and the inmates. I told them that we will not have any foolishness, bring me real problems and possible solutions. I also had Town Hall meeting with the inmates to discuss news, events, and new policies. I made sure that all of my senior non-uniformed staff gathered with me and those inmates wanting to talk.

Staff was directed to form an Inmate Black History Committee and I ordered Black history books. The Business Manager had problems and fits about buying Black history books. Somehow this information got to the Commissioner of Corrections. He called and questioned why I ordered the books asked me ‘How do you know you have the best books?’ I told him that they are the best books. We did get them eventually and then we had Black history classes to read and discuss the Black history books.

In 1967 - 1968, the Superintendents and Wardens were Superintendents M.J. Koloski, Chillicothe, Charles Vancurren, Lebanon, E.B. Haskins, London, E.P. Perini, Marion, Miss Martha Wheeler, Ohio Reformatory for Women, me at OSR and Warden Cardwell at the Ohio Penitentiary. George Denton was the Chief of the Adult Parole Authority and Irvin Howerton was the Manager of the Ohio Penal Industries My son Bennett jr. had graduated from Xavier University and was attending Meharry Medical School in Nashville, Tenn. Eileen was a Sophomore at the university of Cincinnati and Bernice was a senior in the Mansfield High School. So as you can see, I wanted my children to pursue excellence and education so that they can excel in whatever field they chose.

In 1968 - 1969, the Superintendents and Wardens were Superintendents W.D. Salisbury, Chillicothe, Charles Vancurren, Lebanon, E.B. Haskins, London, E.P. Perini, Marion, Miss Martha Wheeler, Ohio Reformatory for Women, me at OSR and Warden Harold J. Cardwell at the Ohio Penitentiary. George Denton was the Chief of the Adult Parole Authority and Irvin Howerton was the Manager of the Ohio Penal Industries.

The Ohio State Reformatory is located in Mansfield, Ohio situated off highway 30 in Richland County and is a medium security prison responsible for reception of felony offenders, usually first time offenders, age 16 – 30 years old. It is located on 2,632 acres with cells and honor camps housing offenders preparing themselves for release back into society. My job was to make sure that they had opportunities to prepare themselves for employment, a means to take care of themselves, make correct decisions, reunify with their families, stay off drugs and alcohol, be spiritually and physically fit and become a productive and meaningful citizen in society. The institution housed about 2,160 offenders in cells and the honor units which are working units in the community and on farms outside the facility. There were about 435 employees and 2,000 acres of farm land. The operating expense was about 5 million dollars. The honor units of OSR were the OSR honor farm dormitory, Grafton State farm, Osborn State farm and Mount Vernon Honor Camp. Most young offender completed education and work programs at OSR then transferred to the Lebanon Correctional Institution in Southern Ohio for further efforts.

The Board of State Charities promoted a concept of establishing a reformatory for young offender so that they could be separated from the influence of older felony offenders housed in the Ohio Penitentiary located in Columbus, Ohio in 1868 just 3 years after the United State Government abolished slavery. On November 4, 1886 after much discussion and planning, the community of Mansfield joined together in a much publicize public ceremony to lay a cornerstone dedicating the construction beginnings. The prison was modeled after the Medieval chateaux and castles constructed of “gray” sandstone quarried from the Mansfield area. The construction was completed in 10 years and on September 17, 1896, the name Ohio State Reformatory was bestowed upon the prison. On September 18, 1896, the Ohio Penitentiary transferred OSR youthful offenders to OSR.

The prison philosophy was ‘The purpose of this Institution is to provide an Institution climate that gives each individual the opportunity for personal growth and achievement towards the acceptance of individual responsibility as required by Society, by utilizing all available resources to their maximum extent.’

“I always strongly encouraged – well no – mandated staff and inmates to pursue education endeavors, get involved in the community and be active in social, civic and professional organizational activities. Some of those activities in the 1960’s and 1970’s were very controversial but we were better off for having stuck to doing the right things. Inmates had a variety of activities and organizations to enhance and develop social skills, personal identity and provide community service activities. There was an African American (Black) Culture Club. They studied culture, heritage and participated in diversity education by sponsoring a “Something to be proud of” show case display. This display would consist of art, crafts, biographical material of different African American inventors, scientist, great athletes, business leaders and owners, and other things and there was an ‘Afro Hour’ radio show with talent shows, commentaries, comedy, motivational lectures, and guest speakers. This show was produced by the inmates.

We were starting to get some Spanish inmates in the system so we formed a team to create a Spanish-American Culture Club that helped Spanish speaking inmates to learn better English, become better American citizens, study Spanish American heritage and history and learn how to get along with inmates of other cultures like the Blacks, White, and others.”

In fact on January 11, 2003, during the American Correction Association Winter Conference in North Carolina, the National Organization of Hispanics in Corrections was formed as an Affiliate of ACA and I joined the Association as well as many other NABCJ and ACA members. This organization had there first conference April 24-27, 2006 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Dr. Bennett Cooper’s name was mentioned several times as well as others as a pioneer of correctional diversity. I attended this conference and gave a presentation on ‘Reentry Concepts and the Role of Criminal Justice Programs and Communities’. This organization also has a web site of www.nohcj.org. He continued.

“There was an Ohio Penal Racing Association which taught inmates to build and race stock cars and the Drama club that taught inmates how to produce, write, set up props and script Puppet shows and plays. We even had a Social Aid Club that was responsible for the welfare of the newly arrived inmates. They were like big brothers making sure that the guys had tobacco, underwear, cosmetics, writing material and they mentored, assisted with personal problems, and provided advice and encouragement for self-improvement. Well, we also had the traditional organizations like Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholic Anonymous, Seventh Step Foundation which was founded by inmates and ex-inmates to overcome addictive behavior. (He laughs) We formed the “WOSR Radio Station” which was a closed circuit institution radio station that provided inmates experience in disc jockey work, and radio programming and directing. This station also served as the institution system for special announcements and new programs to the inmates. There was also an inmate produced bi-weekly newspaper called “The Criterion”.

I established work programs "within the walls" and thanks to progres¬sive Mansfield area employers, inmates job training was extended to the outside. In 1968 when I was Superintendent I instituted a program to give selected OSR residents a chance to hold a paying job out¬side the walls. The state's first Apprenticeship-Work Program was underway. The men were paid at the going apprenticeship rate. To be eligible, a resident had to have served at least one-third of his sentence, have a spotless record at the institution and have a positive attitude. Candidates go before a screening committee before they are accepted into the program. Some 14 men worked as cooks at Ashland College, as machinists, at dry cleaners, one in shoe repair work, one sheet metal worker and four tailors. One man who worked outside as a cook has just been paroled. Another man was furloughed and is working at Westinghouse in Mans¬field as a mechanic. Some men at Lebanon and other prisons worked as Umpires in the community and some inmates worked with children with brain damage. We let low risk Offenders out in the community to help out – beside about 95% of them were getting out.

In 1969, the Institution was authorized by the State legislature passing a law and the Department Administrators Martin A. Janis, Director, Department of Mental Hygiene and Correction and M.C. Koblentz, Chief Director of the Division of Corrections to open the Mansfield Youth Center. This three story Center was a self contained unit outside the walls of the institution and housed about 175 young offenders in the Center which was formerly called “E” Dormitory. The staff provided a therapeutic environment and they focused more on assessment, education, recreation and vocational training for the youth. We actually received certification our High School in 1965 by the State of Ohio Board of Education so we could issue our own diplomas. It was called the Fields High School. There were over 140 Offenders receiving High School Diplomas in ’65 and 200 more were in progress of receiving their diploma in ‘66. Offenders could enter college after passing the college entrance examination. My inmates scored impressively on tests and many scored well above the national average.

The staff did get involved with the community. I was on several community boards in Mansfield – the Kiwanis, Lion club, Mental Health Board, First National Bank board, and other boards. I cooked pancakes for the Kiwanis. One day the President of the First National Bank came to speak with me at the prison about joining the Bank Board. I told him that I was already serving on too many boards. He said that he was really trying to diversify the board and provide more financial services to the Blacks in the Mansfield community. I told him that I would do it then he told me that all Board of Directors for the bank must buy $5,000 of bank stock. I told him that I do not have $5,000 and he quickly replied that the bank would loan it to me. I ended up serving on that board for over 20 years. That $5,000 investment is now worth $175,000! We were thought of well by the community.

The community interest helped me to eventually form the Prison Citizens Advisory Council which consisted of about 15 or so members comprising of qualified and committed Blacks, Whites, women and men. I can not remember the names and sometimes they changed or more members were added to the council.

Community participation was necessary towards community reintegration, employment and rehabilitation efforts. We allowed inmates to attend community events under supervision, speak to community groups, clean up litter, paint schools, donate goods and services towards non profit and youth efforts. We also allowed the community to come in and take a tour, speak to the inmates, conduct volunteer programs for religion, self improvement and just plain ole lectures. The staff really focused on developing more realistic prerelease preparation by involving the community and the parole and probation staff by working together to provide a continuum of services allowing the inmates to prepare for release back into the community.”

His Vision

“Where it all begins; Chance favors to present itself and instigate. Separating the wheat from the chaff, Journey favors and connections flourish. As you stand tall and steadfastly journey upward and onward toward the land of opportunity and success; Shall destiny beacon a spark from the deepest of within? Shall we whisper a tender call; Then, stretch and lean toward the win? Might we be prepared and give it our All and All; And yet succeed even when we get up after a fall!” Jeffrey E. Carson September 3, 2001

We took a break for Bennett to find some more documents. I took this time to look at some awards and certificates in the living room. One rather large frame –about 3’ by 4’ with a copper colored inmate hand-made tin ship, protruding out of the frame, was in the living room and it had a plaque that read, From Friends Staff - To Bennett Cooper.’ He saw me looking at the art leaning against the wall in the living room where we were interviewing and said, “I wanted to hang it on the wall over the fire place but I was told that the heat may affect the art and the wall may not support it because of its size.” I provided some documents created by him when he was Commissioner and Director of Corrections, then; we continued talking while going through papers, reports, newsletters, pictures and notes.

“In the fall of 1969, Director Janis visited me at the prison. There was rumor going around that some personnel changes may occur after the recent election of Governor Rhodes. He wanted to leave the Prison Administration building and take a walk in the Botanical garden located in the city of Mansfield. While we were walking, he asked me to consider becoming the new Commissioner of Corrections. I told him that I will think about it. Later just before I told him that I would take the job, I asked him if I could take a 30 day vacation. He said ‘Yes’ and I said ‘Yes’ but I told him that I have to be able to pick my own staff, fire staff and make appropriate personnel and professional decisions. So, in 1970, when Governor James A. Rhodes was installed, he and Janis appointed me as the Commissioner of the Division of Corrections.

I bought me a brand new Dodge Desoto v8 car and I was anxious to hit the road. I took my family on vacation for 30 days and went to Oklahoma, Texas and New Orleans to visit relatives, friends, and associates and just to have fun.

When I got back to Ohio, I set out to instill a sense of teamwork and cohesiveness to create a new culture of rehabilitation and change. The Division had about 9,500 offenders in 1970 and received through the courts about 4,700 offenders in Fiscal year 1970. We formed missions and a credo.” He handed me a document citing, ‘To work toward the goal of the best possible care, treatment, training and rehabilitation of the patients and inmates who are our responsibility, with an assurance to the taxpayers of the State of Ohio that this is being done through the best use of tax dollars that are appropriated for the operations of this department.’ There were 7 prisons in 1970. London Correctional Institution (1,484 inmates), Lebanon Correctional Institution (1,365 inmates), Ohio Penitentiary (2119 inmates), Ohio State Reformatory 2,193 inmates, Ohio Reformatory for Women (306 female inmates), Marion Correctional Institution (1,159 inmates), and the formerly Federal Prison now State prison Chillicothe Institute (1,104 and later renamed Chillicothe Correctional Institution). I began to push for a separation of the Division from the Department. I had looked at other state corrections models and ACA provided some literature on the benefits of separating the department. On several occasions, I testified to the Ohio Legislature about this issue. Director Janis supported the separation.

In 1971, Martin Janis left and the acting Director of Mental Hygiene and Corrections was a ‘fella’ by the name of James T. Welsh. I was the Commissioner of Corrections, and M.J. Koloski and B.C. Sacks were my Assistant Chiefs. The Superintendents and Wardens were Superintendents W.D. Salisbury, Chillicothe, Charles Vancurren, Lebanon, E.B. Haskins, London, E.P. Perini, Marion, Miss Martha Wheeler, Ohio Reformatory for Women, Benard I. Barton, Mansfield and Warden Harold J. Cardwell at the Ohio Penitentiary. George Denton was the Chief of the Adult Parole Authority and Irvin Howerton was the Manager of the Ohio Penal Industries. Barton was a Psychologist of Jewish decent. He was a good friend. I appointed him as Warden. Later on, I appointed him to an Assistant Director after we separated from Hygiene and Corrections in ’72. He stayed with us in Central Office for about 2 years, and then went back to his first love - Psychology. He became the Commissioner of a Mental Health Board in Richland.

In the fall of 1970, Gilligan was elected to become Governor. He asked me to stay on as Commissioner. I told him that I have to be able to hire, manage and fire my own staff and I must be able to run the agency. He said ‘Yes’ and I said ‘Yes’, I could run the Division. Gilligan was a nice fella and I maintained contact with him throughout the years. He is currently in Cincinnati serving on the school board with my daughter Eileen. I attended Cabinet meetings and began to push the issue of separating the division from Hygiene. It seemed to be well received by all in attendance of the Cabinet meetings.

In 1971, I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humanities from the Ashland College for encouraging and developing college degree programs for inmates. In 1971 - 72, the Superintendents and Wardens were Superintendents Michael J. Masino, Chillicothe, William Dallman, Lebanon, E.B. Haskins, London, E. Pete Perini, Marion, Miss Martha Wheeler, Ohio Reformatory for Women, Robert C. White at OSR, Warden Harold J. Cardwell at the Ohio Penitentiary and Superintendent Wilfred J. Whealon at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. George Denton was the Chief of the Adult Parole Authority and Irvin Howerton was the Manager of the Ohio Penal Industries. Governor Gilligan supported my idea to appoint an Ohio Citizens Task Force on Corrections in February 1971. This task force suggested a centralized approach to management. We began to overhaul the badly needed and overdue correctional infra structure and management support system. At that time about 98% of the offenders would return to society so we had to do something to help them to stay out of the system and provide programs to inspire a lifestyle change. I wanted to have a reintegration environment that was safe and humane while developing community based programs and support systems.

In July 1972, the 109th Assembly of the Ohio legislature passed House Bill 494 which divided the Mental Hygiene and Correction into two new cabinet level departments: the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, and the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC). The department moved from under Ohio Revised code 51.19 which is now Mental Health and Mental retardation to ORC 51.20 - Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The Director of Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation was Kenneth D. Gaver and I was appointed the Director of the newly formed Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. I now answered directly to the Chief of Staff for the Governor and the Governor. I immediately appointed Joseph Palmer, Ph.D. Parole Board Chair, as my Deputy Director and I hired a Black fella out of Cleveland to staff personnel. Later I promoted Martha Wheeler from Superintendent to Assistant Director. She was the first female Central Office senior Administrator and she was the best qualified. The Governor’s Administrator and Chief of Staff complained to me that I was not hiring enough democrats. I told them that I was hiring the best qualified personnel and I was not hiring based upon political affiliation, but if I have two people that have equal qualifications and experience, and one is a republican and the other a democrat, then I give the democrat a shot.” He chuckled. “But I have never found two people the same.

We had a court decision to come down from the Supreme Court called Morrisey vs. Brewer which extended due process to inmates in parole revocation hearings. Also the courts awarded good jail time credit to be applied to the Offender’s sentence.

On one occasion, we had an inmate sit down strike over integration policies at the Chillicothe prison. Joe Palmer called me and said that the inmates would not work. We went to Chillicothe and the inmates were told ‘those who will not work will be sent to Lucasville. Now - those that want to work move over here and those who do not want to work move over there’. The Governor’s Office called and asked me to consider not sending the inmates to Lucasville thus forcing the integration issue. Before I could answer the person reframed the question and asked me to reconsider my directive. I told this representative that DRC will handle this matter. We shipped out 10 inmates to Lucasville and everybody else went to work and the integration policy remained in effect.

Also, in 1972, we had been dealing inmate race segregation, discrimination of inmate job and cell assignments, and other conditions of confinement issues but I knew that it was right to strengthen my position of full inmate integration and a separation of the departments as well as a radical restructuring of organization and more funding for prison Capital Improvements projects.

The first task that I assigned my staff was to reorganize and create an organization and management machinery that could update, improve and support the correctional system. Before the separation of the departments, the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction was organized into four major Divisions which were Division of Organization Development, Program Services, Planning and Research, and Administrative and Fiscal Operations. Also, before the separation, we developed an organizational plan to create a central administration that would perform department-wide managerial functions of community supervision, community services, prisons, and parole; develop stronger, closer ties between the services available to offenders while confined to prisons and those provided to them upon their release into the community; and to improve communications among personnel in the prison and between prison staff and community-based correctional workers.

The Division of Organizational Development was phased out in September of 1973 and the new Division established was the Division of Parole and Community Service. This Division oversaw the supervision of the Adult Parole Authority, newly created Community Service Bureau, Parole Board, Parole and Probation Services, Community-based correctional programs and services, such as reintegration centers, halfway houses, and furlough programs. The division was also charged with creating new community-oriented programs.

The Division of Program Services was replaced in April 1974 by the Division of Institutional Services. They were responsible for the overall administration of prisons, education, medical services, psychological services, religious services, Bureau of Classification and Reception, social services and volunteer services to residents in the prisons.

The Division of Planning and Research was responsible for the development of long and short range programs, conduct and coordinate research and program evaluation activities, oversee facilities planning, and developing a computerized correctional information system for the department.

The Division of Administrative and Fiscal Operations was responsible for directing, administering, coordinating and controlling all mattes pertaining to budget, grant, federal funds, fiscal planning, programming and other administrative duties and overseeing the supervision of the Ohio Penal Industries (OPI).

Education is and was important. Being such, I authorized tuition reimburse for full time employees. With the assistance of this program, LEAA grants, and other government grants, there was no reason for someone not to go to school.

In 1973, the Ohio Central School System was chartered as a prison school system by the Ohio Board of Education. We had our own School Superintendent, Principles, Teachers, Counselors, and other educators and issued our own recognitions and diplomas. We created the Administrative Rule series 51.20 that were reviewed by the Legislative Review Committee of the State Legislature and signed by the Director. Oh yeah, I hired Reggie Wilkinson as a Volunteer Coordinator at the Lebanon prison in 1973.

The Department Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OCSEA) signed a labor Agreement in November 0f ’73 (November 7, 1973), covering non-economic working conditions for OCSEA members within the De¬partment. It was a two year agreement that would have expired in January of 1975. We agree on things streamlining the grievance procedure culminating in final and binding arbitration. We agreed to consult with OCSEA Officers before imposing major discipline. There was clarification of re-quirements for call-in pay; and equalization of overtime provi¬sions.

A primary feature of this new Agreement was the establishment of separate bargaining units for supervisory and non-supervisory personnel. As such, this Agreement was the first of its kind signed in the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

In 1974 we continued prioritizing the restructuring of the management infra-structure of the department to support staff efficiency, increase diversity, pursue innovative community and focus on prison pre-release programming to ready inmates for release. The Managing Officers were Joseph Palmer, Ph.D., Deputy Director, Martha E. Wheeler, Assistant Director, Division of Institutional Services, H. Richard Gooch, Assistant Director, Division of Parole and Community Services, Joseph R. Dembinski, Assistant Director, Division of Administrative and Fiscal Operations, Cyril S. T. Cho, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Division of Planning and Research, George Denton, Chief, Adult Parole Authority, and Ben T. Adams, Director of Personnel. The Superintendents were Mrs. Dorothy Arn, Ohio Reformatory For Women, William Dallman, Lebanon Correctional Institution, Frank H. Gray, Chillicothe Correctional Institute, E. Blaine Haskins, London Correctional institution, Joseph H. Havener, Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, E.P. Perini, Marion Correctional Institution, and Robert C. White, Ohio State Reformatory.

I told the Governor Rhodes that I have to select my own team if I were hired to stay after the Election in the fall of 1974. We could not come to terms so I moved on to another State agency.

In 1975, I was appointed the Deputy Director of the Division of the Administration of Justice and I was responsible for monitoring and disbursing Federal grants and the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) funds. I also served as the Deputy Director of the Ohio Department of Economic and Community Development before retiring from state government in 1983. I was the acting Director for 3 months under Governor Celeste in 1983 just before Richard Seiter was hired from the Federal prison system.

Later, I worked for the Voinovich Architect Firm and was heavily involved with the design of new prison facilities. Later in 1990 George Voinovich was elected Governor of Ohio and he appointed a person I hired, Reggie Wilkinson to be the Director of DRC. So you see, when you give a person an equal opportunity and that person is the most qualified, you may see the fruits of your labor years later and not immediately. Many of the folks I hired and promoted have gone through the ranks and eventually retired. Just give a person a chance and let destiny reveal itself.

Whether you run a prison, department or any entity or agency, it is no greater than your weakest link in your key administrative chain, therefore, you must get the strongest, most creative, most qualified staff possible. Also negotiate your conditions of leading before you accept the job. I walked around daily, talked and gave encouraging words to inmates, staff, and family members about policies, procedures, progress, problems and so-on. I wanted them –the offender, family and staff - to find ways to help prison staff in trying to reshape the life of the Offender. Inmates could fly a kite to me any time – even when I was Director. As Director, I made it my business to visit every prison often.

In my career, I held staff and inmates accountable for their actions, backed them on the right things and I handled some problems and concerns personally. ‘We have a responsibility to the public. It's a shame, but responsibility is a negative word to a great many people. Responsibilities have become burdens to be avoided or blame to be shifted to another. I'm glad to say this isn't the case in our Department, where responsibility to the general public is a twenty-four hour-a-day thing. I'm glad, because responsibility to me is very much a positive thing. It's a challenge to do your best, and our Department has responsibilities, challenges, and chances to excel in so many areas.

Responsibilities imply an accountability. As public servants, paid by the taxpayer, we are accountable for the time and money we spend on the job. The public expects and has a right to receive full service and conscientious work. Responsibility also implies that those who accept it are reliable and trustworthy. You and I have sensitive, demanding jobs. They arc under constant public scrutiny and the public can be a stern employer.

But the public knows that our jobs are difficult and even dangerous. Protecting society from its members who have broken the law is a serious responsibility, to be sure. And if the public asks a lot of us it is because they feel confident in are and trust us must not forget that those behind even the stoutest bars are also members of society and the public. Our responsibility to them is to help them overcome the problems that separate them from the mainstream of life, to help them return con¬fidently to ‘the outside’.

Our Department has great responsibilities, to all the public, but I think that's a good reason to be proud. Remember, not everyone is able or worthy to accept such challenges. You and I are in a position to prove our reliability and trustworthiness, to stand up under the closest public scrutiny, and be proud of a job well done.’

Legacy

“Keep A-Goin’!

“If you strike a thorn or rose, Keep a goin’! If it hails or if it snows, Keep a-goin’! ‘Taint no use to sit an’ whine. When the fish ain’t on your line; Bait your hook an’ keep a-tryin’- Keep a-goin’!

When the weather kills your crop, Keep a-goin’! Though ‘tis work to reach the top, Keep a-goin’! S’pose you’re out o’ ev’ry dime, Gittin’ broke ain’t any crime; tell the world you’re feelin’ prime – Keep a-goin’!

When it looks like all is up, Keep a-goin’! Drain the sweetness from the cup, Keep a-goin’! See the Wild birds on the wing, Hear the bells that sweetly ring, When you feel like surgin’, sing – Keep a-goin’!” By Frank Stanton 1927

Reginald A. Wilkinson, Director, ODRC, during the department’s 30th Anniversary on July 18, 2002 said, “It is very humbling for me to be here with three of my former bosses and mentors, Directors Cooper, Seiter and Wilson. Bennett Cooper, a true corrections pioneer, but more importantly a man who always speaks his mind. He has been an icon in the corrections field for decades. Because of Director Cooper and others like him many people of color have been afforded opportunities in this corrections arena. He is my mentor, my friend and I never question anything he tells me,” then he points to Dr. Cooper as thousands of corrections employees, retirees and guests give me a standing ovation. I feel humbled y that. Later in 2002, the department named building located on the grounds of the Training Academy after each Director me, George Denton, Richard Seiter, and George Wilson who recently passed and was buried in the Lexington Kentucky area.

All of the inmates and staff had an opportunity to practice their religion. I was committed to religion and made sure that there were religious services for Muslims, Jews, Baptist, Catholics, and others. We used as many Volunteers, faith-based and community organizations as we could recruit. The Jaycees helped with housing, clothes, transportation, mentoring, and employment. The Man to Man Mentoring program was a group of Ex-Offenders providing mentoring and worked with transitioning the Offender into the community. We had partnerships with Goodwill and the Rehabilitation and Services Commission to train, hire and assist Ex-Offenders. We established Institution Parole Officers to assist the Offender and their families in transitioning to the community. They also assisted in preparing the parole plan for the Offender and briefing families on the parole plan of their incarcerated relative. We created a pre-release service center which provided orientation to inmates getting ready for release. The staff took Offenders on shopping trips, community service projects, and brought in motivational speakers and mentors. They conducted a Dynamic Needs plan.

My wife, Zelda, worked for over 30 years as a Special Education teacher. She worked in Cleveland, Mansfield, and Columbus and retired from a County School System.

I wanted to lay the foundation and framework of reform rather than punishment. Reformation was the ultimate objective. It was not popular, but a humane approach to rehabilitation of Offenders is more effective than an iron fist. Anybody can run afoul of the law and we have an obligation to help provide them with tools to stay within the framework of the law while preparing to go out and doing a great work. If we change the inmate’s perception of self, then you touch the heart of change in an inmate or for any person for that matter. Whenever I ran into an obstacle or integration issue, I would tell staff, ‘It’s tough, but let’s try it anyway!’ I think that a man or woman should go through prison without being unduly harassed or even harassed at all and by that I mean harassment by inmates or anybody else. The respect and dignity of a person has to be maintained. If you take that away, then that person has nothing left. I am and was concerned about everybody’s emotional and physical well being. People are not to be coddled all of the time but a little coddling once in a while is good for the soul and humanity of mankind. Everybody should have a sense of worth by understanding the importance of work, education, community service, respect, community cohesiveness, and conflict resolution skills. I do not believe in idleness. You have to be fair, firm and consistent with staff and inmates. I can be just as nice as the next person or just as tough as the next person. Fairness is an overriding concern for every correctional leader. It takes care of justice and injustice. It is the administration of justice and the sincere effort of fairness and justice. Fairness brings justice and injustice together.”

I wanted to form an internal newsletter in November 1972 after we became a department. I need staff, community, inmates and everybody else to see and read about what we were doing. We called this newsletter, The Communicator and it is still called The Communicator.”

The first Director’s message read:

‘If a tree falls in the forest, and there is no human ear to hear the vibrations, was there a sound at all? Perhaps you recall that example from your high school science days. There is, I think, a parallel here with the new Department of Rehabilitation and Correction; our new publication, The Communicator; and the public.

Since July 12, we have officially been a Department, and much reorganization and other activities have taken place. But not all of this has been brought to the attention of our correctional workers, simply because we have not had a means of communicating with them. The general public, too, has learned only what has appeared in the Ohio public media.

For this reason, we have created this monthly publication, The Communicator. Its purpose is to spread knowledge and information in several directions: to our more than 3,000 employees in the eight institutions and the Adult Parole Authority; to the general public, particularly those community leaders with an avowed interest in rehabilitation and correction; and, finally, from these areas to those of us at Central Office.

Certainly we have no wish that The Communicator take the place of inmate publications; they will continue to fulfill their present function of communicating with inmate populations and their families. We will, however, constantly be concerned with inmate interests-which after all are our chief reason for existing. That is why, through The Communicator, we are addressing both the public and our employees. For the public is the newest—and a very important—element in correctional work. Likewise, our employees make up a public relations group without equal. The attitudes reflected and information pur¬veyed by each employee can have a powerful effect on how the public feels about inmates and ex-inmates.

In fact, much of what we have to say in these pages will be directed to our employee force. We are interested in your attitudes, your health and safety, your families, your effective-ness on the job, your career with the State. In the months to come, I think you will find numerous articles of interest to you in The Communicator. And by the way, we welcome your questions and comments, which we will answer in print if possible.

So I look forward to greeting you often through these pages. I look forward to hearing from you, as well, with your comments and news. It is my hope that The Communicator will become a means of better communication among all of us in Rehabilitation and Correction, will help improve employee relationships, and create greater community involvement.’ Bennett J. Cooper Director. November 1972

Correctional Innovations

“In November, 1972, the department established the Office of the Ombudsman. This was a Scandinavian concept used in public administration as a means to enable inmates, citizens and administrators to get an inquiry or investigation to concerns when there is a breakdown in the ordinary administrative process. We modified the original concept to respond to prison inmate and staff grievances. The primary function of this office was to receive, investigate, audit for rule and regulation compliance and evaluate inquiries, problems, and complaints of correctional staff and inmates to ensure that all rules and regulations of the department were followed. This office can influence the change of rules and regulations and can resolve problems and concerns in a reactive and proactive manner. For the most part, this office has acted almost exclusively on inmate initiated complaints or inquiries. Unlike other Offices such as this one, there is an Ombudsman and two Deputy Ombudsmen, both Ex-Offenders and the Ombudsman reported directly to me, the Director.

This approach to conflict resolution within a correctional setting is unique among correctional systems. This office technically served some 16,000 inmates, parolees, and staff. I appointed a former Associate Superintendent, George Miller who had been with us for 30 years as the Ombudsman. I hired two Ex-Offenders as Deputy Ombudsmen, one white and one Black. William Garner, Black guy, and he did 9 years in Ohio and got out of London Prison in 1970. ‘Got his degree from the Ohio State University.’ Alfred Mack was a White inmate that served 23 years in prison in New Jersey and Ohio and was paroled from Chillicothe prison in ‘69. Mack started as a Parole Aide and did an outstanding job managing parolees. ‘I felt that with the 30 years George had and the combined 32 years incarceration of Mack and Garner, they would make a fine combination to get the job done.’ Staff had a terrible time with the hiring of the Ex-Offenders. Later on, I appointed Carl Madison, a former Houseboy in the Mansfield prison, now Sunni Islam, was hired. He is Black and Muslim. After being released from prison, he went on to finish college. He still does religion service work occasionally for the department. He now lives in Columbus, Ohio.”

This office later evolved into the Office of the Chief Inspector. Currently each prison has one Inspector of Institutional Services and some Institutions have had or have Assistant Inspectors. These Inspectors report to the Chief Inspector and Warden.

“The Ohio Corrections Academy opened in 1970 near the Chillicothe Institute. In order to expand training and professional development, we created the Office of Staff Development in 1972 which oversaw over 100,000 hours of comprehensive staff training in 1973. Training Coordinators were assigned to Institutions and Parole to work with academy staff in planning and conducting pre-service training, in-service training, specialized training such as Cultural Awareness, Middle Management, Correctional Management, the Ohio Revised Code covering corrections, and other trainings. The department offered tuition reimbursement for staff enrolled in college or technical schools.

We applied for and got LEAA monies to create the Using Ex-Offenders as Parole Officer Program. We received $82,599 to hire Ex-Offenders as Parole Aides. These aides worked with Parole Officers managing parolees. In June 1974 I believe we had hired about 25 Parole Officer Aides. Many of them retired from the department. This was a very successful rehabilitation initiative.

I had Dave Blodgett to establish a three-day "live-in" experience, simulating the feeling of being incarcer¬ated, to be part of a seven-week entrance training program for new employees scheduled to start at the Ohio Correction Academy in Chillicothe. This realistic training approach designed to let the new person know how it is to be locked up was believed to be the first of its kind in the nation. Blodgett was Department staff development chief was in charge of implementing the program. He is now retired.

Anyway, we developed an 80-hour correction officers training course this new orientation program, which was eventually extended to the current correctional workers of that day, was designed to ‘equip the new employee with the knowledge and attitudes needed to be effective in their assignment.” ‘By standardizing training we could control its quality, and eventually reduce employee turnover.’

Professional Correctional Associations

“Shortly after I became a Warden” (Superintendent) “in 1966, I immediately got involved with the Wardens and Superintendents Association, an Affiliate of ACA.”

This organization is now known as the North American Association of Wardens and Superintendents.

”In 1967 I went to the ACA conference in Miami Beach, Florida. When I tried to attend the Wardens and Superintendent meeting, the Officers denied my entrance by stopping me at the door. I told them that I was a Superintendent and the gentlemen said that I was not permitted in the meeting and did not believe that I was a Warden. I told them that I was not a Warden but I am a Superintendent at the Ohio State reformatory. A ‘fella’ by the name of Ellis MacDougal, a Warden out of Connecticut vouched for me and said that I was in fact a Superintendent and I was in fact authorized and permitted to attend this meeting. MacDougal was an Officer of ACA and he insisted over all objections that I ‘be’ permitted to attend the meeting and that the meeting not start until I was permitted to attend. Every since that incident Ellis and I became great and close friends and had a very close mentoring relationship as professionals and organization members.

When MacDougal became Commissioner of Corrections in Connecticut, he called me and told me that the inmates were fighting over cell assignments because they did not want to cell with other races. Black inmates did not want to cell with White inmates and vice versa. Of course staff did not want to mix the races either and they often expressed fears in all state prisons about Whites and Blacks fearing to cell together because of sexual fears. I guess that they were assuming that Blacks would rape Whites and Whites would rape Blacks. I thought that rape was more of a security concern and not a racial concern. He asked me, ‘What I should I do?’ I said, ‘You are the leadership and boss, do the right thing and let everyone know what is expected, the consequences for not complying for staff and inmates, then toe the line!” He chose to integrate inmate cell assignments and lock up inmates who did not comply and discipline staff who did not enforce the compliance. Interesting enough, as far as I know, the sexual assaults in the Connecticut prison system did not increase. When there was an incident of rape, the matter was investigated and the person committing the act was disciplined with isolation placement and/or charged with a crime. As far as I know rapes did not occur based upon a desire or need for raping a member of another race. Rapes occurred by a sick person usually because the rapist was stronger than the other person and the person decided to break the law and rule by committing the act of rape. Most theories suggest that rapes occur because of a personality defect or imagined need for over powering another person. Rape based upon race was a popular thought and fear by inmates and staff although the disciplinary reports did not support this theory and fear.

Reflecting back on the 1960’s, Corrections and ACA reflected the overall views on the society. Alabama Governor Wallace ran for Governor on a race separation platform, the military was segregated, Blacks under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther was marching on Washington in 1963 to protest for Blacks being denied equal rights and voting rights. Other people and organizations were protesting America’s policy on race. Not all White people believed in race segregation and inequality of rights but those that did – did and it made it rough for everybody else that was Black – especially Black inmates and former inmates. Being involved in the Wardens and Superintendents Association and ACA was a struggle but it was worth being involved and struggling for the future corrections professions and the profession. I guess that I was thinking ‘If not me – Who?’ After 1966 or so, other Blacks became Wardens and Superintendents and they often faced the same problems as I with acceptance and entrance into these noble and worthwhile organizations. I believe that the Washington D.C. Correctional system had a Black in charge of its prison in about 1965. This system was not a state system but was quasi Federal because it is in a Federal District and Washington D.C. is not a state. I had not met him but I heard about him and he was not involved in the correctional associations at that time.

In 1972, Joseph R. Palmer, Ph.D., Deputy Director, Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Correctional Association. And at the ACA Congress of Correction in August, Martha E. Wheeler, Superin¬tendent of Ohio Reformatory for Women, assumed the presidency of the 102-year-old organization, and I (Dr. Bennett Cooper) was elevated to a vice-presidency of ACA.

In 1973, I was elected President of the Correctional Directors Association. Ohio was beginning to be recognized for being proactive in release preparation, community corrections, staff diversity, management training, inmate programming, staff and inmate education and staff development. This organization is comprised of heads of corrections. Some were called Commissioners, Directors, and Secretaries. We benchmarked best practices, provided mentoring to new Directors, and provided a network of sharing advice, services and information. I even went to Europe with 13 Directors to compare our system with the European system. It was in December 1973. (See December 1973 edition of The Communicator ).

In 1974, I was invited to speak to a group of criminal justice folks in Alabama. A friend, Dr. Charles Owens at the University of Alabama invited me to speak in February of 1974. Out of this meeting and conference, the genesis of NABCJ was inspired. At the meeting, I, then Director of the State of Ohio's Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, called for the creation of a permanent national organization that would focus on the goal of achieving equal justice for Blacks and other minorities. The conference supported my recommendation and created a committee to establish the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice, Inc.

Over the years, a substantial portion of NABCJ's membership has come from the ranks of criminal justice professionals representing the entire spectrum of the criminal justice process. A major asset of the association has been its ability to attract a strong mix of members representing law enforcement institutional and community corrections, courts, social services, academia, religious and other community-based interests.

As a national association, a substantial part of NABCJ's strength and vitality can be found in its state and local chapters. Through the efforts of its membership, NABCJ provides an action-oriented vehicle for initiating constructive change within the criminal justice system.

With state and local chapters located across the United States, the association has shown consistent and positive growth. Through the coordinated efforts of its members, NABCJ provides thousands of volunteer service hours to the communities in which its membership works and resides. Through its annual, regional and state conferences, NABCJ provides countless hours of in-service training all aimed at enhancing and increasing the level of professionalism in criminal justice. I just can not travel around to ACA and NABCJ and other organizations but I cherish the people, events, recognition and fond memories. I do go to some local events occasionally. My wife has been a little ill lately but we are still going on.”

Federal Grants Law enforcement Administration Assistance (LEAA)

The project entitled Supplemental Training for the Disadvantaged was implemented at the Lebanon Correctional Institution utilized two grants of $29,493 and $6,208. The specific objectives of these projects were to instruct the "disadvantaged individual" to a degree of proficiency of a marketable skill upon the completion of his training in the areas of data processing, accounting, office machines operations, and typing. The Department received $75,411 from the Manpower Development Training Act of 1962, through the Ohio Department of Education, Division of Vocational Education. This grant provided offenders at the Lebanon Correctional Institution, Ohio State Reformatory, and Marion Correctional Institution with training in the areas of Dental Laboratory Technician, Production Machine Operator, and Pre-Apprentice Brick Laying. There were two projects entitled Development of Vocational Education Curricula, especially adapted to continual adult penal education programs, and utilized $37,444 of federal dollars in FY-1973. These projects were needed in order to plan curricula modules and procedures for work adjustment programs and work evaluation centers, and to develop programmed institutional materials to accompany the modules in order to allow maximum individualized instruction. The project entitled Comprehensive Education Program in a Maximum Security Setting utilized $26,000 of LEAA funds in order to provide a comprehensive program of educational opportunities for non-motivated residents in a maximum security setting.

The project Institutional Vocational and Educational Program Implementation expended $26,020 in LEAA monies to provide business education at the Ohio Reformatory for Women and graphic arts training at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. The Reformatory Community Reintegration Program used $143,373 of LEAA monies. This project was designed to utilize community educational vocational resources in order to prepare selective "reformatory type residents" for eventual community reintegration. The Alcohol Rehabilitation Project utilized the expertise of Battelle Memorial Institute and $42,338 of LEAA monies to operationally affect an educational program for residents with serious drinking problems. The project Law Libraries for Incarcerated Offenders utilized $86,725 of LEAA monies. This project established basic law libraries in each of the institutions to enable the residents to have the necessary legal materials at their disposal for use in their behalf. Monies in the amount of $3.007 from LEAA, in conjunction with Battelle Memorial Institute, were utilized for a project entitled Planning a Treatment Program For Intractable Inmates in Maximum Security Segregation. This project designed a humane, treatment-oriented and secure program for the acting out, disruptive resident who is unable to adjust to the general prison population.

The project entitled Multi-Disciplinary, Re-Motivation and Education Program used $4,899 of LEAA support at the London Correctional Institution. This was a demonstration project concerned with developing a problem-solving system which would deliver a continuous and comprehensive treatment service. The Adult Basic Education Grant utilized $22,269 in order to provide basic skills in reading, writing, mathematics and an understanding of how to apply these skills in daily life. The Minority Recruitment Program expended $75,013 of LEAA monies. The purpose of this program was to initiate an action project whereby the Department would actively recruit and hire a minority group member for professional and non-professional positions as an aid to the overall rehabilitation process. The Staff Development Project utilized $194,417 of LEAA monies, which were used to develop and implement training and educational programs for all levels of staff.

The Public Services Careers Program under the Emergency Employment Act provided for employment of the disadvantaged. Personnel employed under the program were given on-the-job training to qualify them to become employees of the State of Ohio. Federal funds for this purpose amounted to $174,543. The Ohio Citizens Council on Crime and Delinquency, in conjunction with the Department and a grant from LEAA in the amount of $64,600, conducted an Ohio Criminal Justice Seminar. The purpose of the seminar was to develop, from among key criminal justice professionals and community leaders, an on-going, broad-based constituency for criminal justice reform at all levels. The project entitled Adult Probation Development and Improvement Program utilized $383,579 in LEAA funds. The purpose of this grant was to provide professional probation services for adult offenders at the county level. The Citizen Volunteers Project, which expended $118,296 of federal monies, attempted to reduce recidivism among offenders in Ohio through the use of lay volunteers who were recruited and supervised by Man-To-Man Associates, Inc.

The project entitled Halfway House and Community Service Development Program utilized $41,886 of LEAA funds. The main thrust of this program was the utilization of community treatment as an alternative to incarceration by maximizing the effectiveness of existing halfway houses in Ohio. The Correctional Center for Female Parolees Project utilized $102,132 of LEAA monies. This grant provided a community residential center for women offenders.

The Para-Professional Case Aide Training Program utilized $47,541 in LEAA monies. This program offered training to personnel who would be employed in the various halfway house programs throughout the state. The project entitled Using Ex-offenders as Parole Officers Aides utilized $82,599 of LEAA monies. The purpose of this project was to utilize ex-offenders in the rehabilitative process. The Community Reintegration Center Project utilized $370,116 of LEAA support. This grant was used to staff and operate three small community reintegration centers capable of accommodating between 25-30 offenders who were in danger of violating their parole.

LEAA granted $22,281 to the Department for a project entitled A Planning Study of the Adult Parole Authority. This project was done at the request of the Ohio Citizens Task Force on Correction and was aimed at an intensive evaluation of the Department's community service programs. A total of $390,660 was used to provide the Department with the interim phases of a multi-year program which will produce a Computerized Correctional Information System, which, when completed, will enable the Department to have access to instantaneous data retrieval which will be utilized in planning and rehabilitation. The project entitled Treatment of Sociopathy by the Use of Drugs utilized $60,882 of LEAA monies. This project was done in conjunction with the Ohio State Research Foundation in an attempt to determine the most expeditious method for treating the sociopathic offender.

Excerpts of the Events Affecting or Influencing Bennett Cooper

The Ohio Department of Mental Hygiene and Correction was formed in 1815 and its first penal institution was built in Columbus Ohio which later was built by using inmate labor and renamed the Ohio Penitentiary.

In 1838, the first Mental Institution was opened and named the Columbus State hospital.

In 1911, the Ohio Board of Administration was established and all Mental Health and Institutions were ordered placed under the Director of Welfare.

From 1921 until 1949, the Department of Welfare oversaw Mental Health, adult Penal operations, and juveniles.

In 1941 During World War II, the NAACP leads the effort to ensure that President Franklin Roosevelt orders a non-discrimination policy in war-related industries and federal employment.

In 1943, Bennett Cooper enters the U.S. Army.

In 1945, NAACP starts a national outcry when Congress refuses to fund an NAACP Federal Fair Roosevelt Employment Practices Commission.

In 1946, Bennett Cooper receives and Honorable Discharge for the U.S. Army.

The NAACP wins the Morgan vs. Virginia case, where the Supreme Court bans states from having laws that sanction segregated facilities in interstate travel by train and bus.

In 1948, the NAACP was able to persuaded President Harry Truman to sign an Executive Order banning discrimination by the Federal government.

In 1949, Governor Frank Lausche served as Ohio Governor until 1957.

In 1952, a riot occurs at Ohio Penitentiary (OP).

In 1954, the Ohio Legislature created the Ohio Department of Mental Hygiene and Correction responsible for Psychiatric care, mental health, aging, institutions, juveniles, retardation, corrections, general administration and Business administration.

After years of fighting segregation in public schools, under the leadership of Special Counsel Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP wins one of its greatest legal victories in Brown vs. the Board of Education.

In 1955, NAACP member Rosa Parks is arrested and fined for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Noted as the catalyst for the largest grassroots civil rights movement, that would be spearheaded through the collective efforts of the NAACP, SCLC and other Black organizations.

In 1956, the Marion prison opens.

In 1957, Governor John W. Brown served as Ohio Governor from January 3 – 14, 1957.

In 1957, Governor C. William O’Neil served as Governor until 1959.

In 1957 Bennett Cooper hired at OSR as Chief of Psychology.

In 1959, Governor Michael V. DiSalle served as Governor until 1963.

In 1960, the Lebanon prison opens.

In Greensboro, North Carolina, members of the NAACP Youth Council launch a series of non-violent sit-ins at segregated lunch counters. These protests eventually lead to more than 60 stores officially desegregating their counters.

In 1961, the legislature enacted legislation to make the Parole Board responsible for the Bureau of Probation and Parole.

In 1963, the Ohio Legislature created the Ohio Youth Commission.

Bennett Cooper is appointed Associate Superintendent of Treatment at OSR.

Donald Reinbolt is the last person executed by the Electric Chair in Ohio. Governor James A. Rhodes served as Governor until 1971.

After one of his many successful mass rallies for civil rights, NAACP's first Field Director, Medgar Evers is assassinated in front of his house in Jackson, Mississippi. Five months later, President John Kennedy was also assassinated.

The NAACP pushes for the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.

The National Urban League hosted at its New York headquarters the planning meetings of A. Philip Randolph, Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil rights leaders for the 1963 March on Washington.

On June 11, 1963, Alabama's Governor George Wallace came to national prominence when he kept a 1962 campaign pledge to stand in the schoolhouse door to block integration of Alabama public schools. Governor Wallace read a proclamation when he first stood in the door-way to block the attempt of two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, to register at the University of Alabama. President John F. Kennedy federalized the Alabama National Guard, and ordered its units to the university campus. Wallace then stepped aside and returned to Montgomery allowing the students to enter.

In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court ends the eight year effort of Alabama officials to ban NAACP activities. And 55 years after the NAACP's founding, Congress finally passes the Civil Rights Act.

In 1965, the Adult Parole Authority was established by State Legislature. The Ohio Parole Board is established within the Adult Parole Authority. The Department establishes the Community Services Bureau.

The Voting Rights Act is passed. Amidst threats of violence and efforts of state and local governments, the NAACP still manages to register more than 80,000 voters in the old south.

In 1966, Bennett Cooper is appointed as the Superintendent of OSR and he authorized inmates to attend college and take college level courses.

The Federal Prison in Chillicothe gave the facility to the State Correction systems and Chillicothe Correction Institute began housing State of Ohio inmates.

In 1967, the Division of Corrections began publishing ‘The Ohio Research Quarterly’, which was cited various research being conducted in the Division such as population projections, budgeting, farm productions, and program evaluation.

Bennett Cooper and his brother Emmett are cited in the Sepia Magazine in and article ‘Bennett J. Cooper: Big Man In The Big House’, April 1967 issue pages 38 – 43. During a Wardens and Superintendents meeting at ACA in Miami, Florida, Bennett Cooper was denied entry into the meeting until a White Warden named Ellis MacDougal vouched for him and challenged the organization. Later MacDougal became the Commissioner of Corrections in Connecticut.

In 1968, the Division of Corrections was responsible for inmate education, training, classification, security, Adult Parole Authority, Ohio Penal Industries, Farm and Honor camps, social services, and research. A riot occurred at OP. The Division of Corrections adopted goals. During the late 1960s, Urban League to advocated for a police/community relations program and a "new-comers" guide for low income and minority immigrants to be distributed listing services, agencies, job placement programs and assistance in housing, medical care, financial aid, etc.

In 1969, Dr. Cooper’s friend, Commissioner Ellis MacDougal, became the President of ACA.

In 1970, Bennett Cooper is appointed the Commissioner of the Division of Corrections. Immediately he started hiring minorities and women and other qualified key staff. He began setting up training programs for new staff and in-service training for all staff. He also established the Ohio Corrections Academy on the grounds of the Chillicothe Correctional institute.

In 1971, Bennett Cooper is awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humanities from the Ashland College for his development for college degree programs for inmates. The Ohio Citizens Task Force on Corrections recommends education accreditation.

Governor John J. Gilligan serves as Ohio Governor until 1974.

On July 12, 1972, House Bill 494 divided the Mental Hygiene and Correction into two new cabinet level departments: the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, and the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC). Also in July, 1972, Bennett Cooper is appointed as the first Director of the newly formed Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. He formed teams to create a system of Administrative Rules and Regulations, use of Force Committees, and a disciplinary process to institute fair and consistent treatment for inmates.

Tuition Reimbursement program started for full time staff.

OCSEA and the Department sign a Bargaining Agreement.

Department Adopt a philosophy statement.

The Southern Ohio Correctional Facility opens in Lucasville.

The Division of Parole and Community Supervision is established. The Death penalty is rules unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Morrisey vs. Brewer extends due process to parole revocation hearings.

In December 1972, House Bill 1170 allowed for the Employees of the Department to be represented by the Attorney General for legal action arising out of their employment.

Inmates are allowed to paint their own cells. Central Office started giving out service awards and employee of the month recognition.

The Department establishes the first labor relations group. Director Cooper names John Kelly as the Chief of Labor Relations.

H.B. 494 allowed the department to decide inmate prison placement versus the courts.

In 1973, Bennett Cooper’s administration headed the effort to establish the Ohio Central School System, a charted school system within the Department of Corrections.

Bennett J. Cooper, Director of the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, has announced the ap¬pointment of Richard Gooch to the newly-created position of Assistant Director responsible for the Department's Division of Parole and Community Ser¬vices. This Division, established by the legislature, en¬compasses the Department's probation and parole ser¬vices, the Parole Board, and other community-based correctional services and programs such as reintegration centers, furlough program and halfway house ser¬vices. These services were previously administered within the Department's Division of Program Services.

Arthur l. Sprouse, Guard, and Gary P. Underwood are killed in the line of duty. The Electric Chair “Old Sparky” is moved from the Ohio Penitentiary to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.

Superintendent and later Assistant Director Martha Wheeler becomes the President of ACA at the Seattle, Washington Conference. She had been a Superintendent at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, Ohio. She was promoted by Dr. Bennett Cooper to Assistant Director, Division of Institutional Services in 1973. She was the first female DRC Central Office Executive Staff in Ohio to hold such a position.

The APA moves from Cleveland Avenue Offices to 1050 Freeway Dr. North where Central Office is located in 2006. Central Office was located at 1944 Morse Road in 1972.

OSR inmates are permitted to learn and earn wages outside the prison. .

In 1974 Shock Probation and Parole go into effect. House Bill 511 establishes the reformatory concept.

On February 24, 1974, Bennett Cooper gives the Keynote address at the Blacks and the Criminal Justice System Conference at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama with a theme of “JUSTICE AND INJUSTICE: A HISTORICAL LOOK AT BLACKS IN THE CRIMINAL.” He gave a stirring 45 minute speech and challenged participants to form their own organization to promote justice, diversity and professionalism within the correctional system. Thus he became a founder of the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice.

In 1975, Governor James A. Rhodes serves as Ohio Governor until 1984. George Denton is appointed Director of DRC, and Bennett Cooper becomes the Deputy Director of the Division of Administration of Justice.

In 1982, George Wallace returned to the state political scene by defeating Montgomery Mayor Emory Folmar, the Republican challenger, in the general election. Wallace's gubernatorial conquest was characterized by an unprecedented amount of black voter support during the general election. For the former advocate and chief spokesman of the state's segregationists, this spelled a complete turnabout in his political career. (Montgomery Advertiser-Alabama Journal Supplement, 1987).

In 1985, Bennett Cooper receives the E.R. Cass Correctional Achievement Award from the American Correction Association. The E.R. Cass Award was established in 1963 and given to criminal justice and corrections professionals who have contributed to the advancement of the field.

Dr. Cooper Career Highlights

“If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live this life in vain: If I can ease one life from the aching; Or cool one pain; Or help one fainting Robin; Unto the nest again, I shall not live this life in vain.” . Emily Dickinson 1885

Copy of Dr. Bennett Cooper’s speech

JUSTICE AND INJUSTICE: A HISTORICAL LOOK AT BLACKS

IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Dr. Bennett Cooper

Keynote Address:

Conference: Blacks and the Criminal Justice System

University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL February 25, 1974

“Let me say that it is a real pleasure for me to be here. Chuck Owens called me some time ago to ask me if I would come, and I said I would be happy to.

Let me also commend President David Mathews on his cooperation with a program of this sort. There are men of lesser stature that would not have allowed it in this university or any other university. Furthermore, I can genuinely say that a few years ago I didn't think I would be standing in the University of Alabama talking about blacks in corrections or blacks in the criminal justice system.

The words ‘criminal justice system’ are abrasive to me. I think we ought to just say "criminal justice" and stop right there, because the justice that is dispensed in this country, particularly toward blacks, is criminal. The phrase really has some meaning when it says "criminal justice" and you stop there, but if you go on to "system," it makes the phrase more sinister because it systematizes the whole business and makes it difficult for all of us.

It is easy to criticize. I can criticize anything and so can you, but we need to examine it some. I do not think most of us really need to examine it much because we are pretty familiar with it. I was speaking not long ago to a black political organization, and I asked them, ‘how many of you know anybody in prison?’ In a group of about 200, five or six hands went up. I said, "Now ladies and gentlemen, you know better than that, there aren't any blacks that do not know some blacks in prison. Now tell the truth, how many blacks know some blacks in prison?" Then everybody put their hand up. To blacks, crime is normal, it has been a way of life. It has not been a way of life that blacks have liked, but it has been one that has been forced on them. Nonetheless, blacks know about crime, and crime certainly knows blacks.

I have been in corrections some seventeen years. I came into the business as a chief psychologist in 1957. I later became an associate superintendent in the structure, then superintendent in the structure, eventually a commissioner of corrections for the State of Ohio, and finally the Director of the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. How I got there, I do not know - I was the best qualified. I want to relate to you at least some of my feelings about the criminal justice system, how it works, and how it doesn't work.

Let me illustrate first my feelings about the general area of crime by relating a little story. I guess most of us have heard of a former illustrious mayor of New York named Robert Wagner. Wagner was considered to be a good administrator. He went around to all of his departments and spent some time there to find out how the department worked. The first place he went when he was elected was the Night Court in New York City, the likes of which you have never seen before. When Wagner was serving as an acting judge, the first man that acme before him was a fellow who had stolen some bread in order to feed his family. Wagner asked the fellow, "Why did you steal that bread?" The man replied, "I stole it to feed my family." Wagner told him, "Well, that is a noble motive for stealing, but you broke the law, so I will have to punish you and find you ten dollars." The man replied, "I don't have the ten dollars. If I did, I would have bought the bread." Wagner then told him, "I'm going to loan you ten dollars so you can pay your fine." Then Wagner turned to the crowded courtroom and said, "Now I am going to fine each one of you fifty cents apiece because you live in a city where a man has to steal bread to feed his family."

I think that illustrates the real point of what we are talking about when we discuss the criminal justice system and how it works and does not work. The criminal justice system, in my experience, has been a highly selective process. Highly selective in that it screens most whites out; screens most poor folk in and screens most affluent people out. The system is no selective that you can predict who will and who will not be put in jail.

Judges do not like to hear that you can predict who they will send to prison or who they will keep in the criminal justice system. I was speaking before a Judges' Association meeting recently, I said the same thing and a judge invited me to his court to show me that I could not predict who he was going to send to prison. I told him that I may not be able to predict for each individual, but I could in terms of socio-economic status, race and sex,. The judge took real issue with this. He said, "I'll tell you what, let me give you a little sample case here." I agreed, and he said, "Why don't you be the judge?" I replied, "Well God forbid, but we'll" try that." He continued, "Now you are the judge and you have two people in front of you. One is a young man who has offended the law and is here with his family and friends and the best attorney that money can purchase. He has some resources and skills in the community. The other young man has come in alone with no family, a State-paid attorney, no resources, no skills, and little education. It is your decision as to whether you are going to send them to prison or place them on probation. What would you do?" Well I could see that he has a stacked deck when he gives you stories of this kind, but I thought for a moment and said, "I would place both of them on probation." He said, "That's incredulous, why would you do that?" I replied, "If your court cannot understand or does not have the resources to assist the person who needs it most, then they both ought to be on probation. But more than that, your court ought to have the resources to handle both types of situations. Society itself stands to gain more from the man who needs the most help." The judge walked away, he did not want to talk about it any longer.

Actually what happens is that those three entities, the judge, the prosecutor, and the defense counsel, really control what happens in prison and the criminal justice system. Most of you know this but it is a point that has to be made over and over. Those three entities get together and decide on the fate and future of many people, most of whom are black and poor. They bargain away the lives of people, get them to cop pleas to things they aren't guilty of, which in my mind is unethical to say the least. They take oaths to this ethics business and assuming they know what oaths mean I guess they feel they stick to them. I do not have any bones to pick with the profession as a whole, just with all of those who do wrong.

As I see it the real issues of blacks in corrections and the criminal justice system are who goes into the system, how they get there, and what happens to them after they arrive. If everybody had an equal chance then we would not have as much to complain about. Let's look at it from this point of view. All of us know that the people who are in the criminal justice system, once they get there, are not likely to ever get out again. The system perpetuates itself right from the inception and that is why those of us who have looked at the business for a few years have come to the conclusion that a number of things need to be done.

The first thing that needs to be done is to eliminate the system almost entirely. Recognizing that in our time our society is not going to allow offenders of the law to go unpunished., what is it that needs to be done, and be done reasonably? Let me say that as a social scientist I generally agree with the principles of human behavior in that it changes slowly. There are those who say that the criminal justice system cannot change rapidly. As a social scientist I tend to agree with that, but as a black person who has seen what happens in the system, we cannot wait for that slow change. There has to be some radical action taken, action that our society is not ready for, and certainly that the system is not ready for, and may never be ready for. If we wait for the system to get ready, we may well not make the change, or even attempt to make the change.

A good many people in this room know a friend of mine by the name of John Boone who was the Commissioner of Corrections in the State of Massachusetts. He was a black man who had a dream about changing a correctional system and changing it pretty rapidly. John Boone is no longer Commissioner in the State of Massachusetts. He tried to change it, really made the effort, and was, in effect, emasculated. The follow-up was that somebody in the Governor's office in Massachusetts called me and offered me the job. I said, You just got through emasculating one black man, what do you want to do, emasculate another?" The point is that the man who really tried to make radical changes does not last long because the system will not allow him to. Some of the guards in Massachusetts said that they would never take an order from a "nigger." That was allegedly one of the battle cries as it was related to me. Any of us who has been in this business any length of time, any length of time, knows one pretty salient fact about the business. The longer you keep a person locked up, the less likely he is to ever be able to adjust to the outside again. If at all possible, do not lock people up. That's paramount. Now with that thought in mind and knowing that we are not going to keep everybody out of lockup, the next thing is to get them out as quickly as possible. If you have to lock people up, get them out in the shortest possible time. This is consistent with the fact that the deleterious effects of prison life will not have taken as much effect if you get them out as soon as you can.

One of the greatest problems in the prison system is the parole process and how long people are kept there. As recently as a couple of weeks ago I asked my parole board to tell me why they were needed. They have not answered that yet. In my mind, parole, as it is presently structured, is one of the worst travesties of justice I have ever seen. When we couch in the hands of a few people, with inadequate information, the power to decide when a person is released and when he is not, I think it is wrong. If it sounds like I am for the abolition of parole boards, I am. I have said it before and I continue to say it. I feel that one of the most serious problems in the prison system is how long we keep people there. Recently we got the authority to let a person loose just about whenever we want, as long as he is not in on murder, but the parole board still has to do it by law. Until we get parole boards out of it, we are going to keep a lot of people locked up longer than we need to.

The great, great majority of people in prisons do not really need to be there, and do not pose any real threat to society. In fact, some of you know as well as I do that when the decision was made in Florida to release two thousand people from correctional institutions, the incidence of crime did not go up. If, however, you know that you have to keep some in prisons, then what else can be done?

Another thing that needs to be done is to afford a person experiences even while he is locked up, experiences that he can use in adjusting when he gets out. That means, pretty simply, that you cannot keep people locked in maximum security and you cannot parole them from there because the traumatic effect of sudden release from total lock-up is one that human beings are not able to adequately cope with. (And human beings are able to adjust to almost anything.)

We have to get people out of immediate lock-up, we have to get them back living as close t home as possible and as normally as possible, and we have to do some things that we have not done before. For example, we are now trying to get the legislature to give us the authority to let people go home for a week for no reason besides doing whatever they want to while they are there.

That brings up another issue when you talk about getting prisoners and convicts back into the community. It is not too bad if you are able to divert them from prison and keep them in the community, because most people in the community at that point would know that these people have offended the law and any kind of diversionary program up front is kind of acceptable. But after a prisoner had been confined and you attempt to open community-based facilities, that is when it hits the fan.

If someone has ever been a prisoner he looks at the criminal justice system totally different than someone who has not been. The greatest illustration I have had of these different perceptions happened last November when fifteen administrators from the United States were invited to Europe to meet with fifteen European administrators. It was remarkable what the administrator from Holland related about how they were having approximately five escapes per year from the institutions in Holland when he first took charge. Each escape caused a big furor in the community and was national news. The reason for the furor in the community was that each man who escaped always assaulted somebody to take money and clothes in order to get away. When the administrator took charge, the first thing he did was give all the convicts money and clothes. Escapes were up five hundred percent, but nobody was assaulted, nobody was robbed, and the escapes came on the news so frequently that they were no longer news. You couldn't do that and remain as an administrator in charge of facilities in this country, it would not be tolerated. If you try to give convicts money and clothes that allow him to get away, you may as well leave too. The difference is that most Europeans have in some sense been prisoners at one time or another, so their perspective of those who have broken the law and are imprisoned is considerably different than that of the American puritan ethic which black folks have not been allowed to live in; not that they necessarily] want to, but still they have not even been allowed to try.

The Dutch administrator had ten commandments and I think they were pretty great. They dealt with institutions and I want to read them to you.

1. Never say that imprisonment makes, sense, just say that you have to give sense to imprisonment.

2. Never speak to your clients of treatment, just try to help them if they are aware that they are in need of help.

3. Do not consider a prisoner as a person who has lost his rights, just help him to use his rights and to respect the rights of others.

4. Do not say that in prison everything is forbidden if it is not allowed, just say that everything is allowed if it is not really necessary to forbid it.

5. Do not think that prisoners are not ready to accept their sentences, a lot of them do and they are not in need of security measures.

6. The best security is the minimum security and that should be your maximum security.

7. Always consider a prisoner as your fellow human being, you will find out that he differs less from you than you might have supposed.

8. The main problems of your clients are lying outside, not inside the prison walls, so do not isolate your institution from the outside world, which is also the prisoner's world.

9. A prisoner is not always wrong, sometimes a prisoner may even be right.

10. Remember that the prison is the prisoner's house to live in, not yours, so it is important to know how he wants to live.

These are the ten commandments of one administrator from Holland, whether they're accepted by all of Holland is another question.

Let me tell you that as black people it seems to me we have to view this whole criminal justice system as not only racist but “classist” as well. "Classist" says that not only will we deal with black people in this manner, but we will also deal with all poor people in this manner and we are bound to get just about all the blacks and then the poor whites in the same process. We wind up with a “classist”, racist society, and that's where the problem of the criminal justice system lies. It does not lie in prisons or in the criminal justice system per se except as they are consequences of the “classist”, racist society we live in. That is why the system is what it is, because it takes all of the "undesirables" out that the “classist”, racist society doesn't want and isolates them in some out of the way place, keeping them there, out of sight and hopefully out of mind.

However, the last few years have been a sudden and dramatic change in terms of how oppressed people in prison feel about it, and I do not need to recant to you the tragedies of the prisons. You have all seen them, heard of the, and some of you may have been in them. There are those who feel that if you are not working to change these conditions by violence and

Overthrow of the system then you are not making a contribution to change. I have to take some exception to that viewpoint because I think we need people with all levels of effort. Riots have actually made my job easier. I can change things as lot more by saying that we are going to have a riot if we don't change. That kind of act, whether you like it or not, is an asset in the whole business. We might not like that kind of asset because some people have to pay the sacrifice and it is a dear, dear sacrifice that people pay.

The number of blacks working in the correctional system is minute, and there are reasons for this under representation. I understand the reasons and I understand the dynamics of why blacks are not happy about working in prisons. I realize they don't want to be a part of punishing and dehumanizing their brother. My point is that this attitude is not going to help those who are in there at all. In fact, it is going to be worse for them if there are not some of us blacks working in the criminal justice system. Just because we do not like it is no reason for not doing something to improve this situation.

We can produce change more rapidly by design than by chance. One of the things that I hope comes out of this conference is the development of a strategy that we can use to make rapid changes. I hope something more than hospitality comes out of this experience. I hope more than rhetoric results because lately the trend has been to turn to rhetoric. All of us are getting good at it and we try to outdo each other, so let's get more out of it than that. Let's get down to planning some strategy. It seems to me that a black oriented conference of this kind ought to become a permanent organization. The history of progress has really come by concerted action, and unless we concert our action the progress that all of us want to see will not take place.

An organization could assist in the whole area of affirmative action for the employment of blacks, for their use, for their trade-off, for their technical assistance, and could assist anybody in any part of the country if it becomes strong enough. One of the things we can do in the future is to expand this conference so that we will need a bigger room than this, one twice this size. Each brother and sister, each participant here ought to bring another so we will have twice as many as we did this year.

The real struggle here is for the dignity of man and I think struggle is for all of us, not just for some of us, and it is for those who are in prison as well. Unless those outside prison struggle for those who are in, then his dignity is not going to be respected.

I did not think of this, I wish I had, but it has been said that we are our brother's keeper. We do a great job of that, keeping our brothers in prison; but until the time comes that we accept the fact that we are our brother's brother and help him to get out, help change the whole system, then we are going to be right where we have been for the last 200 years. In my final parting word let me say that the challenge is here and I would ask that you join the fray and that you see that there is a perpetuation of that which has been

stated so nobly here by Charles Owens. Thank you!"

Doctor Cooper Contrasts European, U.S. Corrections Dec. 1973 – The Communicator

"In some ways, European correctional systems are ahead of those in the United States," Rehabilitation and Correction Director Dr. Bennett J. Cooper ob¬served last month after returning from the Inter¬national Corrections Policy Makers Conference in Frankfurt, Germany.

Cooper was one of 13 U.S. corrections officials to attend the three-day meeting, sponsored by New York University's Criminal Law Education and Re¬search Center and funded by the Ford Foundation.

Held Nov. 12-14, the conference was designed to bring together top correctional administrators from the U.S. and Central Europe for discussions on a number of major issue.8.

Officials of 11 foreign countries took part in the session, which was followed by a four-day tour of correctional facilities in several European countries.

To Cooper, the sharpest difference between the foreign correctional systems and those in the U.S. was one of attitude. He said the European systems seemed more sensitive to the needs of the offender, more concerned with his rehabilitation than his punish¬ment.

The director attributed that attitude to the experi¬ence of many European countries during World Wars I and II. "When a large segment of a country's popu¬lation has learned about imprisonment from first hand experience," he said, "it's only natural that country is going to be more sensitive to those in its own institutions."

Cooper pointed to the location of the conference as an example of the more progressive European atti¬tude toward corrections. The meeting was held on the grounds of Gustav Radbruch Haus, a community-based correctional facility housing about 200 resi¬dents, most of whom are employed in the surround¬ing community.

The director noted that in the U.S. such facilities are still far from a reality and, when proposed, often *meet with stiff public resistance.

Cooper recounted the story of a corrections offi¬cial from Holland as an example of the more relaxed attitude Europeans take toward corrections:

That official told of how escapes from a particular institution climbed from five a year to over 100 in only one 12-month period. Realizing escapees would need clothes and money, the official provided those items to residents so, in case they fled the institution, they would not be forced to commit crimes to make good their escape.

The official said that as the escapes become more frequent but resulted in no major problems, they be¬came less and less of a news item, Cooper added.

However, the director pointed out that part of the reason for the more relaxed European attitude is the much lower number of violent crimes and hostile of¬fenders in the foreign countries.

Cooper also noted a difference in the attitude Europeans show toward those working in corrections. He said that while correctional officers in the foreign countries aren't necessarily better trained than their American counter parts, they enjoy a more favored position in society.

"This points up the need for enhancing the posi¬tion of correctional officers in the U.S., "the direc¬tor said. Corrections systems must step up efforts to help the public understand that correctional officers perform a vital role and deserve the respect of the community, he added.

Despite the differences in attitudes, however, Cooper said he found many similarities between cor¬rectional systems in the U.S. and the European countries. "Our goals and philosophies are generally the same," he said, adding that institutions and pro¬grams are also often similar.

The director cited one important area in which he thinks U.S. correctional systems are superior to those in the European countries - insuring the rights of all residents.

He said that while the foreign systems may be more advanced in dealing with many offenders, they take a hard-line and sometimes severe approach to¬ward repeated offenders and recalcitrant.

"When it comes to trying to observe the basic human rights of all offenders and attempting to pro¬vide all residents with the proper program," Cooper said, "then correctional systems in the United States surpass those in the European countries."


Department Adopts Philosophy Statement December 1973 The Communicator

"Each offender is different, and we ought to deal with each as an individual." So begins a statement of philosophy adopted this month by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

The statement reflects recent advances in correctional theory, but Director Dr. Bennett J. Cooper says it is not a departure from the philosophy that has guided administration of the department in the past.

"We haven't changed our philosophy," Cooper said, "but this is the first time we've committed it to writing since the department was created in July, 1972."

Adoption of the statement followed months of dis¬cussions by officials of the department, including the managing officers of its seven institutions. Cooper said the philosophy statement "evolved" from those talks.

"The department's philosophy has been simply stated and should be understandable to all of us," he added.

He said the statement will serve as the basis for development of specific departmental goals and ob¬jectives, a task that is to be undertaken by key de¬partment personnel in the near future.

The results of that effort will replace existing goals and objectives, which were formulated prior to establishment of the department, when it was operated as Division in the former Department of Mental Hy¬giene and Correction.

The newly adopted philosophy statement says: "Employees of the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction believe that:

"Each offender is different, and we ought to deal with each as an individual. This is essential if we want to afford experiences that can assist persons in a soci¬ety that too many is viewed as hostile.

"Just because a person offends society seriously we need not always take him out of that society and lock him in a cage. Serious offenses against a society pre¬sent differing degrees of threat to that society. In order to protect a society in all instances, we must work to keep offenders out of institutions whenever possible and assist them in adjusting to society with¬out offending it.

"For those serious offenders, who must be con¬fined, we must provide humane care and experiences they need to return to society and adjust. At the same time, we must keep the confinement period short and directed toward release by allowing adjust¬ment in the community prior to release, whenever possible and practical.

"For those who have been released, we must assist in their community adjustment in every way possible.

"Within the context of a correctional system, as well as outside of it, many things and persons in-fluence changes in human behavior. While environ¬ment certainly contributes, people are the prime agents of change. Our staff members are the people who can provide needed experiences and influence attitudes and behavior.

"Finally, we are open to new approaches. As our clientele changes, we must be able to adjust to new programs and new approaches."