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In 1920, Sing Sing Prison had the reputation of being a brutal, ungovernable “hellhole.” The New York penitentiary was one of the oldest and biggest maximum-security prisons in America, and it held some of the most notorious criminals in history, including mobsters, hitmen, and serial killers. However, on New Year’s Day of that same year, a new warden named Louis Lawes was appointed to oversee the jail. Knowing that the troubled prison had a reputation for ending the careers of previous wardens, he joked that the easiest way to get out of Sing Sing was to go in as warden.
Lawes took note of the wretched conditions the prisoners were subjected to and immediately went to work making improvements. A dress code for all prisoners was implemented. Academic training was offered to anyone seeking it. Athletics were promoted to those who were inclined and a theater troupe was put together to entertain the local community to raise funds for additional programs.
The warden credited many of the reforms to his wife, Kathryn, who took a hands-on role in helping the prisoners. Mrs. Lawes ran errands on their behalf and spent time listening to them. She even sat in the bleachers with her three young daughters while prisoners played basketball and baseball at the correctional facility. She taught Braille to blind inmates so they could read, and after meeting a deaf prisoner, she learned sign language so she could communicate with him. In short, Kathryn treated the prisoners as human beings…regardless of their past.
But in 1937, tragedy struck: Kathryn was killed in a car accident.
The news of Mrs. Lawes’ death was soon “telegraphed” from one criminal to another across the entire prison. The following morning, as her body lay in a casket at the family home just a half-mile up the road from the jail, the guards noticed a large crowd of prisoners gathered at the main gate. The hardened criminals were grief-stricken and openly weeping; their admiration, love, and appreciation for Kathryn was obvious.
And then, in a move that would’ve gotten any other jailer in the country fired – and maybe even locked up in his own prison – the warden said, “Alright men, I’m going to trust you. You can go to the house to pay your respects. Just be sure to check in tonight.” Then he opened the gates and a parade of criminals walked to the Lawes’ house to share their condolences with the family. No count was taken. No guards were posted. Yet not one man was missing that night.
The love Kathryn Lawes had for those prisoners was what Jesus had in mind when He commanded His disciples to “love your neighbor as yourself.” In the original Greek language, this instruction literally means to deeply love “others of a different kind.”
When Kathryn loved “others of a different kind” the lives of thousands of prisoners was completely transformed.
Resource’s Origin:
Romans: Righteousness from Heaven by R. Kent Hughes. Crossway, 1991, Page 246.
