Stephen Crane was born in 1871. He is perhaps best known for his novel, The Red Badge of Courage, set during the American Civil War. Although he died at the age of 28 of tuberculosis, he left behind a legacy of short stories and writings. One of those written pieces is a three-part observation of the infamous New York prison, Sing Sing. Crane titled the piece “The Devil’s Acre.”
He writes chillingly of Sing Sing’s electric chair, used to put prisoners to death. He observes the uncanny smell of the chair’s varnish before segueing to a caricature of the grey-bearded “Captain” who had more than 30 years’ experience burying the convicted. Finally, Crane describes the convicts’ graveyard at Sing Sing. Crane writes of the place where “one could assuredly hear the laugh of the devil.”
Visit UW’s American Heritage Center, where you can see Stephen Crane’s manuscript of “The Devil’s Acre” in Crane’s own handwriting as part of the David Gray papers.