Castle of Broken Boys

In 1894, seven wards left San Quentin to spend the rest of their sentences at the new State reform school in Ione. It didn't take much for the courts to commit a boy to the Preston School of Industry. Career criminals accounted for a major portion of the population, but orphans, vagrants, and children whose parents could no longer care for them also called the facility on the hill their home. Some wards made headline news, like Merle Haggard, who became a popular American singer/songwriter; or Caryl Chessman, the alleged Red-light Bandit who died in San Quentin's gas chamber; Eldridge Cleaver, who rose to American consciousness as a member of the Black Panthers. Enjoy the stories about some of the wards who walked the halls of the Preston School of Industry.History of Preston School of Industry -- Stories of the wards Volume 2