The old photo of the first prison in Beijing in 1917. The video record of the original prison in Beijing 100 years ago

The old photo of the First Prison of Beijing in 1917 shows how the prisoners served their sentences. Photographer: Gan Bo&# 8203;&# 8203;&# 8203;&# 8203;

Sydney· David· Gambo (1890— 1968) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the United States. He was a scholar and sociologist studying China, and also an accomplished amateur photographer

From 1917 to 1932, Gambo came to China many times and took a lot of photos, leaving precious image archives for this historical period. His lens recorded all aspects of the social customs and daily life of the people in various parts of China. Such precious pictures have not been seen in many generations

In 1968, Gambo died in New York. But some photos of Gambo have never been found. In 1984, his descendants found them in a shoe box. In 1989, these photos were exhibited for the first time in 19 cities in North America and 13 cities in mainland China, causing a great sensation& nbsp;

In the Sino foreign negotiations at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the great powers insisted on the consular jurisdiction, mostly under the pretext of the cruel defeat of the old Chinese prison system and the inhuman treatment of prisoners. In the 34th year of Guangxu (1908), Fengtian (now Shenyang) founded“ Model Prison”, That is, to improve the environment and treatment of prisoners against such attacks. Later, it will continue to be handled everywhere

京师第一监狱建自清末时期（即1910年，宣统二年），位于宣武区自新路附近，初始叫京师模范监狱，俗称“王八楼”（因狱中的五排监舍以中心岗楼为圆心散射开去，状似王八而得名）

其内部格局很有特点，由于中心岗楼与周围各监舍筒道相连，因此看押人员只需在岗楼里绕一圈，就可以看到各排监舍的情况。在当时监控手段落后的情况下，这种设计可谓相当科学了。

1912年，民国政府将“京师模范监狱”改名为北京监狱，并于1914年增设了女监。在此之后，又先后更名为“北平第一监狱”、“河北第一监狱”、“河北北平第一监狱”、“京师第一监狱”等名。

1949年2月7日，“京师模范监狱”被华北人民政府接收，同年4月14日更名为“华北第一监狱”。新中国成立后，更名为北京市人民法院监狱。1950年7月，监狱的大门口又正式挂上“北京市监狱”的牌子。

1994年11月8日，经司法部同意，位于姚家井（当时门牌号为北京市宣武区陶然亭街道育新街47号）的北京市监狱迁至原北京市收容所（1982年4月建成），地址为北京市大兴区沐新路。原位于姚家井的旧监狱停用，随后遭拆除。