Life inside HMP detailed in new MUN exhibit

When an inmate sat in his cell at Her Majesty's Penitentiary and began whittling the hard plastic handle of his Colgate toothbrush into a sharp, homemade weapon, it's unlikely he ever thought it'd be worthy of display.

But a new exhibit at Memorial University has put a spotlight on that and other items of intrigue that were confiscated or discovered within the walls of Her Majesty's Penitentiary.

Time on their Hands was unveiled at Queen's College on Friday at a ceremony combining academics and corrections staff.

• See what gems are hidden outside the walls of Her Majesty's Penitentiary
• Clock ticking on historical prison documents, former correctional officer fears
• Shanks, homemade tattoo machines heading to prison exhibit

The new exhibit is the brainchild of David Harvey, who retired as a correctional officer in July 2014, after 30 years on the job. But his time on jail property certainly didn't end there.

He has spent the last 10 years dedicated to preserving the history of the Dickensian-eraprison, filled with stories of public hangings, famous inmates and failed and successful jail breaks.

The project startedwhen Harvey noticed stacks of ledgers and old cardboard boxes about two decades ago in the damp basement of the jail's gymnasium.

Spending hours in the archives and using the resources he had, Harvey created a private museum in the basement of HMP's administration building. It containedartifacts illustrating the province's sordidhistory of crime and punishment.

The next challenge was convincing anyone who would listen that the items were in desperate need of preserving. The oldest document dates back to 1838, when the province's prison was just east of the Supreme Court on Duckworth Street in St. John's.HMP was constructed in 1859.

"I look 100 years down the road, that's my thing," Harvey said Friday.

"I'm even collecting more things now as we speak, and I'm hoping that 100 years down the road there's going to be someone like me that's going to take care of all this and have it displayed."

Decade of work on display

His project caught the attention of Madeleine Mant, inMUN's archeology department, who is credited with helping the material make its way to the university.

"To be able to come up to the university and see this professionally displayed, which makes a real difference for me, it's a real bonus after all these years," Harvey said.

The display cases show everything from old caps worn by inmates in the 1920s to packages of tobacco that were issued as late as the 1980s toan old mailbag that was sewed by inmates in the 1970s for Canada Post.

In addition to learning about the lived experiences of inmates, Harvey said, the exhibit gives the public an opportunity to fully appreciate the work of correctional officers.

"It can be dangerous. These are things that we had to put up withevery day. We found these items almost every day. It's to let peopleknowthat prison is a hard place to work," he said.

After years of researching each item, the novelty wears off, Harvey said until someone asks him a question, including former convicts.

"I've had a couple of inmates, ex-cons, approach me, and wanted to come up and have a look at it. I said, 'Sure, it's open to the public.' You may remember some of the stuff up here, who knows?" Harvey laughed.

Subscribe to the St. John's Morning Show podcast

Read more from CBCNewfoundland and Labrador