Pontiac Prison Investigation - William Recktenwald - Chicago Tribune
I-Pontiac - "I Was a Guard in Pontiac Prison" - William Recktenwald - Chicago Tribune
1978-10-29
"The cellblock was filled with trash, excrement, and spoiled food, all of it soaked with water that collected in puddles. The air reeked of tear gas, mace, and smoke. A pile of bedding was on fire, and all thw windows were closed. Men in the cells began screaming and clanging the bars. . ."
II-Pontiac - "How Tribune Investigator Was Hired" - William Recktenwald - Chicago Tribune
1978-10-29
"'Looks like we've got a live one,' a large, bearded man said with delight as I filled out an application to become a prison guard at Pontiac. 'If you're interested in working, we want to hire,' he promised. I returned to the state employment office in Champaign an hour later and was ushered into an office for an interview. . ."
III-Pontiac - "Working the Cells Where Three Died" - William Recktenwald - Chicago Tribune
1978-10-30
"I was walking the same floors that three other guards had walked before they were stabbed and beaten to death less than three months earlier. . ."
IV-Pontiac-"Just Keep 'Em Locked Up, That's All" - William Recktenwald - Chicago Tribune
1978-10-31
". . .In my week as a guard at the Pontiac prison, I had become used to scenes like this one on the cell-house tiers. The inmates had been locked in their 9-by-5 foot cells for almost three months, ever since the Jull 22 tiot in which three guards were killed. Frustrated by the 'deadlock,' the inmates had retaliated by hurling food and excrement from their cells. fouling their own environment. . ."
IVA-Reaction: Pontiac - "Pontiac Disclosures No Shock-Thompson" - Mitchell Locin - Chicago Tribune
1978-10-31
V-Pontiac-"New Pontiac Warden Moves to End Deadlock" - William Recktenwald - Chicago Tribune
1978-11-01
"Don Harvey, Pontiac Prison warden, has ordered the first major steps to end the 24-hour-a-day lockup of inmates that has existed since the Jul 22 riot in which three guards were killed. . ."
VI-Pontiac-"Prisoners Get Exercise; Pontiac Deadlock Ending" - Bob Wiedrich - Chicago Tribune
1978-11-02
I-"Prison Guard" - William Recktenwald - Evening Independent
Three Months After The Riot, Pontiac Prison is Still a Living Hell For Everyone In It...
1978-11-14
". . .The cellblock was filled with trash, excrement and spoiled food, all of it soaked with water that collected in puddles. The air reeked of tear gas. Mace and smoke. A pile of bedding was on fire, and all the windows were closed. Men in the cells began screaming and clanging on the bars.This may sound like a description of the Pontiac state prison at the height of the riot there last July, when three guards were killed and three others seriously injured. And so it might have been in July. But this was Pontiac on October 11, almost three months after the riot; it was the scene as I entered the segregation cellblock to begin my first day as a prison guard. . ."
III-"Filth and Waste" - William Recktenwald - Evening independent
Inside Pontiac Prison, Some Different Crimes are Committed
1978-11-16
". . .Food was piled everywhere. That made life easy for the mice and roaches I'd seen around. The odor of rotted food filled the air. Dirty utensils were scattered about. The floor look and felt as though it had been waxed with slime.In my week as a guard at the Pontiac prison, I had become used to scenes like this one on the cellhouse tiers. The inmates had been looked in their 9-foot by 5-foot cells for almost three months, ever since the July 22 riot in which three guards were killed. Frustrated by the "deadlock," the inmates had retaliated by hurling food and excrement from their cells, fouling their own environment. . ."
II-"The Riot - William Recktenwald - Evening Independent
In the Dim Light of North Cell House are Reminders of Death and Destruction
1978-11-15
". . .I was walking the same floors that three other guards had walked before they were stabbed and beaten to death less than three months earlier.This was the Pontiac prison's North Cell House, and all around were eerie reminders of the July 22nd riot. Only recently had plastic been put up to cover the broken windows. The four-tier cell house was lit by only a handful of bulbs; there should have been 10 times as many, but no one had replaced the smashed lights or repaired the wiring. . ."