F-House got its infamous reputation over the years because the unit was the frontline in the battle for respect between prison officials and prisoners. To understand how this battle was waged, P.E. provides the history of F-House with our unique brand of “Insight From the Inside.”
Stateville’s roundhouses were built-in the early 1920’s. At the time, they were considered an innovative design. A guard tower was placed in the middle of the structure with all of the cells facing the tower. This was unlike conventional cell houses which had cells in a straight row and limited sight lines. The roundhouse design, however, allowed the guards a view of all the cells and its occupants. The roundhouses also featured a control panel in the tower that could open and close unit doors, which allowed more to be done with fewer guards. All things considered, the roundhouse design was thought to be a significant upgrade in security for both guards and prisoners.
Early on, the roundhouses began to earn a sinister reputation amongst the prisoners. In F-House, you always felt watched, not only could the guards see everything, the prisoners all over the unit could watch your every move as well.
Conditions in Stateville were terrible before reforms came. Prisoners were packed into cells like cattle, plus the cells had dirt floors and no plumbing. Prisoners were subjected into inhumane treatment, they had no rights, and the guards ruled with absolute authority. In 1970, renowned Vice Lord Leader, Bobby Gore, described Stateville in the book “Black Gangsters of Chicago” as a “Cesspool.” He continued to say, “There was no talking, it didn’t matter how hot or cold it was, you had to always have your clothes on. You could not look behind you (when walking in lines), you could speak to the person in front of you, but you couldn’t speak to the person on either side. They took away your freedoms basically.”
Gore was just one of a new breed of Black prisoners coming into the IDOC. These new men had Black Consciousness influenced by the Black Power Movement of the 1960’s. Some of these dudes were already leaders of their own street organizations. These men came of age in a time when being a black man wasn’t just dangerous, it was also criminal. For them, the black man’s struggle didn’t stop in prison, it intensified.
Coincidentally in that same year of 1970, then Gov. Richard Ogilvie selected a Yale graduate and business executive name Peter Bensinger to lead prison reform efforts. Bensinger, being an outsider, was appalled by prison conditions in Illinois. The reform efforts he aimed to launch were to “increase the respect, dignity and status of prisoners.” This upset most of the guards and they resisted change. Despite their resistance, over time, Bensinger’s reforms brought humane living conditions and a focus on rehabilitation and educational programs, but not without a fight. In the struggle for reform, some officers were killed and others were seriously hurt. However, many times more prisoners lost their lives and even more received serious physical and mental injuries.
By 1980, F-House was the only roundhouse still operational. Eventually, all the rest were torn down. Prison officials sought to make F-House a control unit. F-House had 263 single man cells in which Officials housed prison leaders, Nation (gang) leaders, prison litigators (who were nuisances to prison officials), and men with long sentences giving the unit the appearance of a variable basket of deplorables, but somehow it worked. Nation leaders divided F-House into sections that gave every nation their own areas and when overlap occurred, it was worked out with compromises.
I was sent to Stateville and moved into F-House in Jan. of 1994. My second week there, Warden Godinez called me into his office and asked me to help organize and run the newly established Stateville newspaper, aptly named “The Roundhouse News.” I agreed and met and talked with prisoners who had done decades in Stateville. These men had perfected telling the oral history of Stateville, specifically F-House. I learned how the unit got its mystique; F-House held a special distinction during this period. Once a man made it to F-House, he could claim a certain level of respect because it was mandatory to display and maintain, not just a visible toughness, but also intelligence.
When I lived there, we were out of our cells 20 to 21 hours a day. You only had to lock up for the 4 counts every 24 hours. Many men in F-House were college students or graduates, some were bodybuilders, power lifters, hustlers, cooks, gamblers, but most were killers. Every kind of dude you could find in the hood, you could find in Stateville. One thing I encountered that amazed me was the old school way of problem solving. If two men got into a verbal altercation, they would be sent down to the main gallery. The officer in the tower would lower two pair of old school boxing gloves. The tower officer would direct the men apart, hold up his shotgun, and would chamber a round, then everyone would lean over the rail at the sound of the chambered shell, “Click Clack.” That was the signal to start swinging. We all witnessed the fight and when a clear winner was declared, the tower officer would unchamber that round to signal that the fight was over. There was no shame in losing, the only shame was in refusing to go down there when called out, and once the fight was over, it really was over and things went back to normal. This could only happen in F-House.
While Godinez was warden, there was a tentative peace between prisoners and guards based on mutual respect. Occasionally, prison officials would try to claw back some of the freedoms prisoners had fought to get but when that happened the entire prison would look to F-House for guidance. If the guys in F-House accepted whatever B.S. the guards were on, the rest of the prison would too. If not, nobody would.
In 1995, Warden Godinez was replaced by Warden George Detella. This change was in response to the prisoner’s growing influence in the city (Chicago) politics. F_House held what was undoubtedly the most sophisticated and influential group of prisoners in the IDOC. That knowledge and influence extended well beyond the walls into Chicago’s neighborhoods. Although one nation leader and his organization, who was not in Stateville himself, got the bulk of attention for starting 21st Century Vote, a political party, the leaders in Stateville supported the attempt because many of them were feeling pressure from their guys who were asking the question ” What’s Next?” Being in prison had given many of these men an opportunity to slow down and educate themselves. Some of them wanted to transition off the street corners into real businesses and jobs and they saw politics as a way to open doors.
Detella was both slick and aggressive. He wanted to show his bosses that he was a tough guy. Under his leadership, skirmishes between prisoners and guards ticked up. I met him in my capacity as editor of “The Roundhouse News” and asked him for an interview. I intended to ask him about the changes going on in Stateville, but he kept delaying the interview.
As part of this political push, protests were organized outside of City Hall. When Daley realized this was organized from the prisons, he was livid. Never before did officials have to deal with prisoners taking the fight to them on their turf. Over the course of a year-long lockdown, they shipped the guys in F-House to other units, other prisons, even other states.
Warden Detella was their front man who oversaw the break up of F-House. That was his mission all along. Once the occupants of F-House were dispersed, prisons all over took a hit. That was 20 years ago so the infamous F-House has been gone a long time. What Gov. Rauner ultimately closed was a monstrosity of a unit. I basically described it in Part 1 as an IDOC Blacksite for mentally ill prisoners, mixed with court writs, segregation, orientation, and just a general overflow. So now the struggle for respect, dignity and status continues!
Prisoner’s Exchange is the new frontline! For more detailed information about F-House or any other prison related issues, ask P.E Nobody has more insight on real prison issues than our prison scholars and historians.
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