This day in history: Uprisings were ‘coordinated and preplanned’ at penitentiary, official says

From 1975: The two inmate uprisings at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla were “coordinated and preplanned,” the superintendent said.

That was a reversal from what officials said the day before, when the uprisings occurred. An investigation revealed that the incidents were “an overreaction on the part of a small portion of the prison’s population.”

Even the Resident Governing Council, made up of inmates, was taken by surprise. The council apologized “for actions against people involved, particularly the hostages.”

Eight doctors and nurses were briefly held hostage at the prison hospital, and five guards were held hostage in a cellblock. Four were injured from flying glass and knife wounds, but all were reported in good condition.

From 1925: Despite almost a decade of Prohibition, people in Spokane were still drinking hard on New Year’s Eve.

A total of 22 people were arrested for drunkenness on New Year’s Eve and the morning of New Year’s Day. Matalino Depoli, described as “an Italian woman,” held the distinction of being the first person arrested for drunkenness in 1925.

Police added that, despite these numbers, arrests for drunkenness were “slightly less than the year before.”

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1863: The Emancipation Proclamation is issued by Abraham Lincoln to free enslaved people in Confederate states.

1892: Ellis Island opens as a U.S. immigration inspection station and becomes the gateway to the U.S. for more than 12 million people.