The Lockstep Men

February 18, 1901. The gates of the Missouri State Penitentiary close, and you are traded for a number and a suit of wool stripes. Ahead lie the soot-stained limestone tiers and the "silent system" of the industrial shops. Between ten-hour shifts in the shoe factories and the cramped stillness of your cell, your life is now a measured routine of lockstep marches, coal smoke, and Victorian discipline.