The state of prisons and the situation of prisoners in the Tver province in the late 19th - early 20th centuries
Based on unpublished archival materials, the article analyzes the state of prisons and the situation of prisoners in the Tver province in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Special attention is paid to such means of reforming those in custody as the involvement of prisoners in labor activities and religious and moral education. The subject of the research is the prison institutions of the Tver province and the persons kept in them. The work is based on archival documents stored in the funds of the State Archives of the Tver Region, which are for the first time introduced into scientific turnover. The methodological basis of the research was formed by the principles of historicism and scientific objectiveness, as universal methods of scientific knowledge. The article also uses special historical research methods: historical-typological, historical-comparative, problem-chronological, as well as the method of historical and legal analysis. As a result of the work carried out, the main types of external and internal work that the prisoners were engaged in, the amount of income received from prison work were considered. The role of the Prison Trustees Committee of the Tver Province and its district offices in the activities of the prison institutions of the province is described. The main problems typical for prisons of the Tver province in the late 19th - early 20th centuries are identified. It is concluded that in the period considered, the prison institutions of the Tver province were characterized by a number of problems, which were largely determined by insufficient funding. At the same time, some positive changes that took place in the course of reforming the system were obvious - in a number of prison institutions they managed to organize prison labor, libraries appeared, and general centralization of management took place. However, this was not enough to turn the prisons into correctional institutions.