Stories. History. Preservation.
Nevada State Prison Chronicles
The walls of the Nevada State Prison have witnessed more than 150 years of history with stories of law, punishment, humanity, and redemption that shaped the Silver State. This summer, those stories come to life.
Nevada State Prison Chronicles is a free speaker series presented by the Nevada State Prison Preservation Society, bringing together historians, medical professionals, justice-involved voices, and corrections insiders to share the stories that defined life behind these walls.
Join us on Thursday evenings for candid, compelling conversations you won't hear anywhere else. Each event starts at 6:00 PM and doors open at 5:30 PM.
Admission is free with a suggested donation of $10 helping support the preservation of Nevada's most historic institution.
Dr Karen Gedney: Healing Behind Bars
Medicine, Humanity, & 30 Years in Nevada Corrections
Thursday, July 16 | 6 PM | Free Admission | $10 Suggested Donation
She became Nevada's first female prison doctor in 1987. She stayed for 30 years.
Dr. Karen Gedney treated patients at the Nevada State Prison through the HIV crisis, survived being taken hostage, witnessed executions, and fought for the dignity of people most had forgotten. She opens our Nevada State Prison Chronicles series on July 16 with a talk that is equal parts history, medicine, and hard-won wisdom.
Neighbors, history buffs, and anyone who has wondered what really went on inside these walls - this one is for you.
Sean Vassar: Remembering "NOGY"
Retracing NSP History from the Inside
Thursday, July 23 | 6 PM | Free Admission | $10 Suggested Donation
What does it actually feel like to live inside a prison - day after day, year after year?
Sean Vassar knows. After 21 years of incarceration, he turned his experience into a memoir ('Nap of the Mammal'), a career in public service as a Community Outreach Specialist with the U.S. Department of Justice, and as Nevada State Prison's most dedicated Caretaker.
On July 23, he brings that firsthand perspective to Nevada State Prison Chronicles, remembering NOGY (Nevada's Old Guard Yard), the nickname inmates gave to the original prison grounds before later expansions.
This is a story that doesn't show up anywhere else.
Glen Whorton: The Notorious
Infamous Inmates & Unforgettable Stories
Thursday, July 30 | 6 PM | Free Admission | $10 Suggested Donation
Imagine a con man who escaped prison, impersonated officials across the country, nearly bought a yacht for 'prison use' on Lake Tahoe - and ended up as Al Capone's cellmate. You cannot make these stories up.
Glen Whorton spent 32 years in Nevada corrections - rising from correctional officer to Director of the Nevada Department of Corrections - and he's been collecting the strangest, most remarkable stories of the Nevada State Prison ever since.
He closes out our July lineup on July 30 with stories of the most notorious, fascinating, and improbable inmates ever to pass through the Nevada State Prison gates - drawn from decades of research and a lifetime of institutional
knowledge.
Rod Countryman: The Final Protocol
A Firsthand Account of State Execution in Nevada
Thursday, July 30 | 6 PM | Free Admission | $10 Suggested Donation
Nevada carried out its first execution in 1863. Hanging gave way to a firing squad. Then gas. Then lethal injection. The method changed. The gravity never did.
Rod Countryman has been inside that gravity. With a career in Nevada corrections that put him at the center of the state's capital punishment process, he carries a firsthand understanding of what a state execution actually requires: the preparation, the protocols, the people, and the weight that stays with you long after it's over.
On August 6, Rod Countryman brings that perspective to Nevada State Prison Chronicles.
This is the conversation most people never get to have.