Museum story
A profile recognizing curator Dave St. Onge and the Museum’s 60th anniversary, history, collection, and enduring public interest.
A 2024 Correctional Service of Canada profile recognized curator Dave St. Onge during the Museum’s 60th anniversary year.
The profile reflected on the Museum’s history, collections, new acquisitions, and enduring popularity, and paid tribute to Dave’s long-standing work and leadership.
Museum story
The official 60th anniversary story of the exhibit room that became Canada’s Penitentiary Museum.
May 20, 2024 marked the official 60th anniversary of Canada’s Penitentiary Museum.
On May 20, 1964, Superintendent Robert Cunningham wrote to Regional Directors and Wardens across the Penitentiary Service to report that a room had been set aside at the Staff College in Kingston. The “exhibit room” would depict the history of Canadian penitentiaries.
Officials were asked to send early documents, historical photographs, equipment used by keepers, unusual contraband, and other objects of historical interest. The first collection included records preserved from Kingston Penitentiary and Warden Walter Johnstone’s training collection of contraband.
The collection continued to grow, and the Museum developed rapidly under Murray Millar’s direction from 1966 through the Canadian Centennial period.
Museum story
Museum research traces how photographic identification became standard practice in Canadian federal penitentiaries.
The Museum highlighted research by curator Dave St. Onge and researcher Cameron Willis on the introduction of prisoner photographic identification—commonly known as mugshots—in Canadian federal prisons.
Although prisoner photography existed from the 1840s, surviving Correctional Service of Canada records do not establish a standard federal practice until the early 20th century. The research examines when and why photographic identification became part of routine correctional administration.
Museum story
The former Warden’s residence reached its 150th anniversary in 2023.
On August 28, 1873, Warden John Creighton and his family moved into Cedarhedge, the new official residence of the Warden of Kingston Penitentiary and the present home of Canada’s Penitentiary Museum.
Built with prison labour from local limestone and Ohio sandstone accents, the house took its name from the extensive cedar hedges that once lined the entrance drive. Its architecture, grounds, residents, and changing uses remain central to the Museum’s story.
Museum story
Canada’s Penitentiary Museum received the Hospitality & Tourism Award at the 2022 Kingston Business Excellence Awards.
Canada’s Penitentiary Museum received the Hospitality & Tourism Award on September 22, 2022, at the 26th Kingston Business Excellence Awards organized by the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce.
The Museum thanked its visitors, supporters, donors, members, board, volunteers, and staff whose work made the recognition possible.