Lumiere Museum

 

The house of the eldest famous Lumière is quite the museum, with technological progression and familial timeline laid out in the lower floor and some examples of their work alongside a historic bedroom on full display upstairs. The museum covered everything from the older daguerreotype-esqe plate-based photography up to somewhat modern film cameras, both single shot and multi shot. Of note was one of the earlier examples of a multi shot camera, somewhat similar to the “obsolete technology” of the disposable camera (or really any other modern film camera), shaped like a rifle with a full stock and set of sights. Some of the Lumière family’s work on color photography was showcased, apparently having taken a backseat to the film technology. There was also a wonderful viewing gallery of some of the films the brothers had created, my personal favorite being “Machine À Damer Jonage”, a short display of some early ancestor of the modern steamroller during the construction of an embankment near the Rhône River. Unlike most of the other films, this was an accidental technical documentary, as the type of compaction machine they used has not been preserved, or at least not publicly. The first film, called something along the lines of "workers leaving the factory" was filmed at the nearby factory, the remains of which were also accessible, though not terribly intact.

Lumière Museum, Lyon (posted by AEbert)

 The Lumière brothers are credited with the development and emergence of cinema, but strived to discover and invent things that would change the world.

We toured the Lumière Museum which is housed inside the mansion of Antoine and Joséphine Lumière. Antoine would lead the family’s factory that produced cameras and photography plates, whole their two oldest sons, Auguste and Louis, would develop many of the cameras and film equipment themselves. Auguste and Louis, (not the only sons, but) known as the famous “Lumière brothers,” had high aspirations of inventing new products that would help others. For example, Auguste worked on bandage dressing to help speed up wound recovery, while some of Louis’s other projects included some of the first prosthetics and early corrective eye-lenses.

The brothers would solve the problems of creating motion of projected images and capturing color in photography. The brothers were fond of new technology and their inventions often came about from the reapplying the concepts of other innovations in a creative way.

After our pre-reading and site visit, I am left wondering: How would technology/society look different if the Lumière brothers had neglected moving pictures and instead focused on other areas? (Personally, I would assume others would eventually find the same scientific principles, but the method of problem solving and order of development used would probably look different as it is more related to creativity).

New Prison Museum: Silence Until the Walls Speak?

In the New Prison Museum, we learned the history that fell deep within its walls. The original idea of the prison was set up in a way to help prisons be able to reform into society. However, to do this the prisoner needed to be able to reflect on their mistakes so, they were all separated into solitary confinement. The walls were built thick to make it hard for them to communicate, and they were put into separate cells so they could not see one another. Even the exercise rooms were segmented into small sections so they could not see one another.

New Prison Museum

 Imprisonment in Europe was the focus of my research for the class, so I knew walking in that some of the stories would be hard. Learning that it was used as a Nazi war prison added a whole new dimension to that. Starting off by seeing the row of faces on the walls of the prisoners who were sentenced to death was heart breaking. When we eventually went down stairs after we were told to remember their faces was even more. You were able to see the conditions they were kept in and even the individual cell were they were imprisoned. What struck me most were the flowers people would leave behind at each of the names. A lot of these people were young, they were our age. We read some letters of the prisoners and experienced some of their last words, where their thoughts were of their families and of a future of peace. It was eye opening to say the least because you get told about history but when you actually get to see aspects of it for yourself is when it really connects. This was especially true when our tour guide talked about meeting people who were actually in the prison in the past. You think that all of these events were so long ago but they weren’t. It is important to learn from history so things don’t repeat again.

- Morgan

New Prison Museum

The prison museum, though very emotional, was probably my favorite museum so far. I appreciated that it was mostly in its original condition. What you imagine when you think of a regular museum would not have had the same impact on the people visiting, and I think the tour guide did a very good job of telling the stories of the prisoners. I believe to get a true idea of the stories the prison has to tell, it should be kept as close to the original as possible. The shock of seeing how small the rooms were, the coldness in the air, and hearing the stories of the individuals imprisoned there helps us fully understand what the prisoners went through. My favorite part was the basement with the letters each one had written in their cells. Commemorating the people that had been there and respecting each individual’s story instead of talking about the prison as a whole was a very unique and effective way to set up the museum. It was not at all what I expected, it was much more than that. I also liked the idea that the original prison had of not strictly punishing criminals, but reforming them. I was impressed at how early on they had thought of doing so.

-Makenna

New Prison Museum

 

I found the museum as a whole to be very tragic. I viewed the museum as a documentation of what was happening during the era from the opening until World War Two, a remembrance of what happened during the second world war, and a celebration of the small amounts of good that were still possible despite the things that were happening during that awful period.

I distinctly remember the goal of this prison in particular being reforming criminals, allowing them to reintegrate into society after release and hopefully having learned from their mistakes. I do have to point out one massive flaw in their plan, which our guide did go over briefly: Humans need to have social contact or else they go insane. While I am not an expert by any measure on human psychology, I do know that I have had many conversations with doctorate level professionals in that field of study, and I can absolutely say that all of them (at least as of holding those conversations) say that without social interaction the human psyche will degrade. I would say this would be well within what I would imagine historically would have been the goal of prisons, however this prison was specifically constructed to “treat the prisoners as people and not beasts” (roughly paraphrased from our wonderful guide.)I do also understand that while this is known today, it likely would not have been a researched phenomenon at the time, and that during the construction of this prison we did not yet fully understand magnetism, much less achieve the slightly more in depth cause-and-effect understanding of how to mentally destroy someone.

I also found the designer’s following of the labor minimizing circular structure and simultaneous doubling of that same structure to be somewhat pointless on a structural level; why bother with the central hub if you not only end up making two central hubs, but add wings onto the ends of the hubs that you cannot watch from either central viewing point? On the one hand, the Women’s wing I completely understand separating, but the fact that there were two hubs defeated the whole purpose of following the American model.

On less of an engineering-related note, and more of a moral one, I find the stories of the prisoners and staff colluding to create medical excuses for some of the older women and children to escape during Nazi control to be very moving, and I think that very much is a good example of people doing good despite every single thing around them being against them. Especially the story with the baby being fed wine to sneak it out via the dirty laundry, as if anyone involved in the process had been found out, it is more than likely that they would be at minimum jailed, and from my understanding probably immediately executed. Yet, as people historically have done, they did what they thought was right, instead of what was legal.

- William Shaker 

“Le nuove” Prison Museum, Turin (posted by AEbert)

“Le nuove” or “new prison,” was built in the late 1800s, and has undergone multiple renovations as the ideas around imprisonment changed.

Originally inspired by American radial prisons, le nuove has two central guard towers with branching wings forming a plus shape. This setup allowed for fewer guards, as cells in adjoining wings could be monitored from a single point. 

An early idea in correctional institutions was to isolate prisoners to reduce their ability to share information and skills related to crime.  It was thought that the practice of solitary confinement would force inmates to reflect on the choices that led them there, but instead resulted in many inmates taking their own lives, due to social being cut off socially.

Later revisions would eventually increase recreational spaces from a narrow pie sections to rectangular courtyards and allow some interaction with other prisoners.

Later, wardens began to try allowing more interaction from prisoners. Inmates were allowed to help with church masses and eventually le Nuove became the only prison to have a hospital and workshop. These additions focused more on the humanity of inmates as people rather than simply objects to detain. The workshop was used to teach skills that could be used to start a new life after a prisoner’s release. (When the prison was taken over by Nazis during World War II, the hospital was used by a nun to save many people who could be deemed “sick” to escape various situations).

The last renovations happened in the 1970s when floors added to separate levels in the men’s wings, rooms were enlarged, and dog kennels replaced with motion sensors to detect escapees. More space for prisoners, among the other changes returned to offering a push towards more humane treatment of inmates, even if only slightly.

Through its history, flaws, and revisions, le Nuove offers insight into the development of prisons within the past two centuries as well as the social and societal implications of treatment in prisons.

New Prison Museum Visit

We recently got a chance to tour the New Prison Museum in Turin, Italy. This prison, when it wqs first constructed, used a much more modern method for dealing with people who broke the law. Instead of dehumanizing them, the prison was designed to properly reform prisoners. This allowed many of the prisoners to be able to start fresh once they got out and many managed to turn their lives around. This was also among the first prisons to have an entirely separate wing for the women to be apart from the men. 

This was turned back around when world war two broke out and the axis powers had control of the prison. People who were sent here were brutally punished for anything that the axis powers were against. The prison had many of its modern features removed for more primitive resources and there was nearly 10 prisoners to a cell, which were initially designed for only 1 prisoner. This was in an effort to break the spirits of those held captive there before their exicutions, according to our guide. Many soldiers had also been held and exicuted there during the war. Unfortunately, only a small handful of information of the soldiers could be recovered due to the axis powers destroying a lot of the prisons documents.

After the war, the prison was returned to its former glory with a few upgrades. These included redesigned outdoor areas to allow for better social health of the prisoners. Most of the prison was solitary for prisoners, but there was common areas such as a chapel they could be taken to for mass.

All in all, it was a really interesting experience and a great opportunity to learn about the earlier modern prison system. I am grateful for the opportunity to have learned about the development of modern criminal reformation systems. I am also grateful to have learned about some of the occurances that don't get too much attention due to the major historical events they occur during.

- Zacharia Houghton

Prison Museum

 I went into the prison museum expecting a typical museum: reenacted room setups, photos and artifacts, and a description of things along the way. However, I found this museum to be very different from this, as they kept it very true to the original and not glamorizing it at all. The cells were small and mostly empty, and the building itself felt bone chillingly cold, just as it would have during the time of its use. I found it interesting that rather than trying to explain the history in many artifacts and photos, or by adding things to the rooms to provide clarity, we relied mainly on our tour guide to provide stories and explanations of each area. I found that hearing stories of how the prisoners lived and what they endured to be much more meaningful and powerful than reading about it in a short paragraph provided on a sign nearby. To me, this created much more emotion in an already very emotional place, and I found myself really feeling heartbroken for so many of the people who were kept there. Being able to walk through areas were children were kept, where prisoners went to church but still had to be isolated, and the final underground area were so many prisoners were kept until they were executed added so much depth and sadness to the prison that signs and recreations would never be able to capture. 

I found this to be a very meaningful experience. I think that throughout history, prisons are framed as “places where bad people are held”, and this museum helped to demonstrate that while criminals are held there also, it was often used to hold and torture innocent people. I found myself sympathizing with the stories we were told of the prisoners, and feeling so much sadness for the ways they were treated, and I think the prison is a great historical example to learn from to hopefully not repeat the history of it in the future. 

New Prison Museum

 When we went to the new prison museum I had a somewhat clear image of what we might see in my head. We would see some parts of the prison that had been kept to get an idea otherwise we would see a room set up with photos and pieces of the prison to showcase the history. I was very wrong in my idea. Instead, we were walked through the entire prison as it stood and were told stories of the people who were imprisoned there and how their treatment, or the prison itself, changed over time. We learned about how it was used during WWII and caused unwarranted pain to the prisoners. We learned about a nun who stood up for her women prisoners and would fake illnesses for them to stay out of concentration camps, saying that they were too sick to work. We learned of the nun, and even a German soldier, who helped children, and even some prisoners, escape the prison. We were shown the church they were allowed to worship in, except that they couldn't all be in the same room so they were forced into small boxes that could barely fit one person to worship. The most heartbreaking part was when we descended steps to a dark pit that was used to hold people and soldiers. These cells were awful, so small and only a small patch of light, that would let rain and cold air into the cells. We went down to the cells and as we walked by they had signs showing some of the letters left by the people held down there in their final moments. It was so heartbreaking to see their messages and feel the cool air that was constant throughout the prison. 

Now even though this wasn't what I was expecting, and it turned out to be very emotional, I did appreciate learning another part of history and learning about all of the history that that prison holds. I appreciate that people are still telling the stories so we can't forget what our world was like and make you not take your life for granted.

- Haley 

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Welcome to the History of Science and Technology in Europe Summer 2024 blog!

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