Zebulon Reed Brockway became the superintendent of Elmira Reformatory in 1876 and is credited with implementing education at the prison, including the construction of a school building that housed 28 classrooms, a library, and trade school. Professors from Syracuse and Cornell universities taught classes in geography, ethics, and economics. Here, students are engaging in math and civics classes circa the 1950s. Courtesy of: Chemung County Historical Society

Clinton prison school area, year unknown. The Correctional Association of New York has been advocating for access to formal education in prison since the 1900s. In its 2014 report of Clinton Correctional Facility, the CANY noted that the prison “is not able to provide for people’s higher education needs” and “limited college opportunities was the most complained about topic in survey comments about educational programming.” Courtesy of: SUNY Plattsburgh archives

New York currently has college programs in 29 of its 52 prisons with approximately two percent of the incarcerated population enrolled. Marymount Manhattan College, in partnership with Hudson Link, held its first commencement ceremony at Taconic Correctional Facility as part of the newly formed Taconic College Program. The women in this photo graduated with their Associate of Arts degrees in Social Sciences on June 10, 2019. Courtesy of: Babita Patel / Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison