The Big House Museum at Folsom Prison preserves the history

Just outside the granite walls of Folsom State Prison is the Big House Museum, which houses an extensive collection of prison history.

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Duke Juanitas is the museum's president and also the facility's fire chief. He said the museum's volunteers answer many questions.

“People ask all kinds of questions. They want to know about our darker history and some of our craziest stories,” he said. “They also want to know how many people we have. We have something for everyone.”

Museum in the house of a former prison director

Housed in the former director's house, the museum is full of history and attracts visitors from all over the world.

Juanitas, who also serves as a volunteer museum guide, educates busloads of visitors eager to learn about the prison's history.

“We are more than just Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison,” he said. “We have a rich history, such as being the first prison in the entire United States to have electricity. Our mission is to better understand our profession in corrections.”

Exhibits in the Folsom Prison Museum

Exhibits include a real prison shackles and a Ferris wheel made of 250,000 toothpicks.

“We also have a model of a cell where Sam, our animatronic, tells the history of the prison at that time,” said Juanitas.

There are also new exhibits.

“Well, we have some new exhibits, including one that tells a little bit of my history with the fire department,” he said. “We have a Bible that was found here in the prison that was used in 1884.”

Learn more about the history of SERT

Another new exhibit features the Special Emergency Response Teams, better known as SERT. Today they are called crisis response teams.

Visitors were able to meet Cindy Shellabarger, a volunteer museum guide who was one of the first two women to join SERT in 1984.

Shellabarger tells her story of how she came to SERT.

“The guy says we should come out for the SERT team and help with riots and hostage negotiations,” she said. “Any bad situation, they would call SERT.”

She said the SERT team was created in response to the Attica prison riot in New York in 1971. By the 1980s, all of California's prisons had a SERT team. She said there weren't many female correctional officers in the 1980s.

To be accepted into the program, they had to pass a fitness test. Shellabarger and three teammates carried a heavy, wet telephone pole two miles. After every quarter mile, they had to lift a log over their heads. At the end, Shellabarger and two teammates remained. The museum exhibit, titled Shelly 2, describes the special unit and displays the equipment from Shellabarger's ready bag.

Volunteers keep it running

CDCR retiree Stephen Walters said he enjoys volunteering at the museum.

“It's a wonderful place with a lot of history. I love meeting people from all over the world. It's like therapy to come here and just tell my stories. I have to hold back because some of them are quite graphic, but some people love that,” he said.

He said he often talks about his time working at a conservation camp.

“I like to talk about the great job that the officers and inmates did during these terrible fires,” he said. “It's just incredible how well trained (the firefighters) are and what they can do. And how important they are to the state, especially in the summer.”

We remember long-time volunteer Jim Brown

At the museum, a special bench and plaque are dedicated to a man with a deep knowledge of Folsom State Prison's history. Retired Lt. Jim Brown was a longtime volunteer at the museum and coordinated efforts with the late Assistant Warden Dick Nelson, who helped establish the San Quentin Museum.

“I think everyone knew Jim,” Juanitas said. “He was a fixture. Jim was curator for the last 23 years and died in 2022. (He was) very passionate about the museum and preserving the history of correctional institutions. We have a couple of books that Jim has written and published.”

Walters praised Brown's contributions to the museum.

“He just had a great collection of old history. A lot of people want to know about the escapes and the various uprisings that took place here in the prison. These books shed light on all of that.”

The museum is a popular stop for buses full of students, visitors from senior residences and tourists from all over the world. Subject to change. The museum is currently open Saturday to Monday from 10am to 4pm.

“We're always looking for new volunteers so we can expand our hours. If someone is retired and has time, they can come by and look at the volunteer opportunity. People come here every day wanting to see this place,” Walters said. “It would be wonderful if we could do this seven days again.”

Story and video by Clarissa Resultan, staff photographer

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