Bennett Cooper was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1921. A few years later the Cooper family moved to Oklahoma, and then to New Orleans where Cooper studied at Xavier University. During his years in Louisiana, Cooper was drafted into the U.S. military and proudly served his country during World War II. 

 After returning from the Pacific Theater, Cooper moved his small family back to Cleveland, Ohio where he started his career with the Cleveland Postal Service. While raising his family and working, Cooper graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a Bachelors, and Masters degree in Psychology. 

After 10 years of service with the Cleveland Postal Service, 1957 brought change to Cooper’s life as he started his career within the Ohio Prison System when he was hired at The Ohio State Reformatory as Director of Psychological Services. Cooper would not stop there. In 1963 he was promoted to Associate Superintendent of Treatment.

In 1966, Cooper was appointed to the position of Warden by Governor James Rhodes, making him the first African American Warden, and the highest ranking African American prison official in the entire United States. 

Cooper served as the Warden of OSR until 1970. In 1970 he would yet again make history as the highest ranking African American prison official, when he was appointed to head Ohio’s entire prison system as Commissioner of the Division of Corrections, and Ohio Department of Mental Hygiene and Corrections. 

Cooper passed away in 2013 and there is so much more to be said,  but his legacy continues as a founder of the National Association of Blacks & Criminal Justice and a pioneer for African Americans, working within the penal systems of the United States. 

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The Story Behind The Artifact

This news clipping was found on Newspapers.com and comes from the October 10th, 1970 edition of the Mansfield-News Journal.

This copper ship was made for former Warden Bennett Cooper in 1970. It used to hang in the administration area of the Reformatory, but due to restoration it was taken down and put into OSR’s archive storage. About 10 years ago, a member of OSR’s maintenance crew was asked about a ship that they made for an administrator years ago. Our team member knew exactly what he was talking about. He went to the archive storage to dig it out, then sent for the family. When they all gathered in the archive room and our team uncovered it, the man broke down and cried. He then said, “It was one of the good things to come out of OSR for him” before the prison was transitioned into a penitentiary. Due to constant renovation and restoration, maintenance restored and cleaned the artifact 3 times before it was finally put back on display in the Reformatory’s administrative wings.

Gates Brown was born in Crestline, Ohio in 1939. A star athlete for Crestline High School, Gates unfortunately found himself with “the wrong crowd”, and he spent some of his youth at the Boys Industrial School in Lancaster, Ohio. 

Brown would later find himself at the young age of 18, sentenced to 2 years at the Ohio State Reformatory for breaking & entering.  While imprisoned at the Reformatory, Brown played on the prison’s baseball team and his talent caught the attention of inmates and guards alike. It has been said that the other inmates didn’t like playing with Brown; because no matter what they threw his way he would hit the ball over the 25FT prison wall, and the guards couldn’t be bothered to go retrieve it. 

The coach of the OSR’s baseball team would then go on to contact major league baseball scouts to come watch Brown, and as a result, he would be paroled early to go play for the Detroit Tigers. 

Brown had a long and successful career in major league baseball, and we could spend hours and pages talking about his stats throughout the years. But one of his most notable achievements came in 1968  when the Detroit Tigers won the World Series Championship and the American League Pennant. 

Just like Bennett Cooper, much more can be said about Gates Brown. Unless speaking of Andy Dufresne, people don’t usually see redemption & success when it comes to life behind bars. But Gates Brown is one success story we are proud to share as a part of the history of the Ohio State Reformatory. 

Restoring Original Woodwork in the Administrative Areas

Our restoration team at the Ohio State Reformatory is always hard at work restoring areas of the quarter-million-square-foot structure. Restoring the original woodwork in the Administrative areas involves carefully removing the old varnish from all trim and wood surfaces with specialty scraping tools. These pieces are then sanded smooth and cleaned before a new layer of two-toned stain is applied. The pieces are then sealed with a polyurethane that keeps the wood stain preserved. Our restoration team does their best to keep all woodwork original, but sometimes it is necessary to replace broken pieces. When pieces need to be replaced, the restoration team will custom-mill them to match the originals.

This area of the building was originally used for the Reformatory chaplain’s living space. The chaplain had bedrooms, living space, and a kitchen and dining space on the second floor of administration. Parts of The Shawshank Redemption were also filmed in this area, including the parole board room scenes. This area has recently been reopened after restoration and is now also home to the Frank and Rae Darabont Gallery. It features pieces of movie memorabilia from The Shawshank Redemption.

Sometimes our restoration team encounters additional challenges when restoring these spaces. In the east hallway of the second-floor administration, one of the windows became severely damaged over the years. The team had to remove the framework of the window in its entirety. Thankfully, they were able to save some of the original trim, and expertly rebuilt it. The entire hallway was completed at the end of 2021.

From the Dayton Daily News Sunday, June 8th, 1930

Article found on ArticleNewspapers.com

Content Warning:

This material contains references to violence, which some readers may find distressing. Reader discretion is advised.

GANGSTERS SAID TO BE PLANNING TO AID CONVICTS

City and County Officers Called on For Help At State Prison
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MACHINE AND RIOT GUNS ARE PLACED
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More Than 3200 Men and Boys Are Now Confined at Institution
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MANSFIELD, June 7— A large force of Mansfield police and deputy sheriffs armed with machine and riot guns were stationed about the walls of the Mansfield reformatory tonight in preparation for a scheduled appearance of gangsters in a purported delivery plot.
Machine guns were trained upon the gates of the institution which recently received 266 penitentiary convicts following the Columbus prison fire of April 21.
T. C Jenkins issued an appeal for local authorities after receiving a tip that gangsters were planning a delivery after midnight. Jenkins employed 25 extra guards to augment the regular force of 60. With police reinforcements the forces were increased to more than 100.
The reformatory was the scene of a minor disturbance several weeks ago when Gov. Cooper visited the institution in company with his penal commission. At this time, guards were sent into one cell block when the transferred convicts hurled catcalls and threats at the gubernatorial party.
Today’s enrollment at the prison numbered 3217 men, the majority of whom are youths and minor offenders.

The Central Guard Room is located in the center of the Reformatory on the second floor and was integral to the prison’s operation. Inmates would have entered through this room during the processing at the beginning of their sentence, and would also leave the Reformatory through this space. This space had several purposes throughout the prison’s operation as well, including being used for visitation, and the control center for guards. After the Reformatory closed, the Shawshank Redemption used this space to film the cafeteria scenes for the movie. Today the space is used for various events held by the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society.

We are excited to announce that gift cards are now available online and on-site! We offer e-gift cards in addition to plastic cards. Plastic cards are available at our ticket desk and in the museum store. We are also happy to mail gift cards with an extra charge for postage. The link to the eGift cards is here: https://squareup.com/gift/DHCRP6AP77CB1/order

Admission to The North Central Ohio Industrial Museum is included with the purchase of a self-guided or guided tour ticket. The museum is located off of the bullpen, between the East and West cell blocks.

The Ohio State Reformatory is pleased to announce that public guided tours are starting up again on June 2nd. We will be adding both the History Meets Hollywood and the Beyond the Bars tours to our regular offerings. Tickets will be available for purchase on-site at the ticket desk on a first-come, first-serve basis. At this point in time, Beyond the Bars will be offered on Saturday and Sunday only. If you have questions, please reach out to our Guest Services Coordinator, Ashleigh Ramey, at ashleigh@mrps.org or by calling 419-522-2644 ext. 101.