David Miller makes a return visit to the Lloyd Historical Society on January 7.

In a return visit to Highland, popular speaker David Miller will present a program on the early history of prisons in the Mid-Hudson Valley on Monday, January 7, 2019, sponsored by the Town of Lloyd Historical Preservation Society (TOLHPS). The program will take place at the Vineyard Commons Theater in Highland, beginning at 7 p.m.

In two earlier presentations for TOLHPS, Miller kept his audience spellbound with stories of prison riots and of the progressive approach to prison management he instituted when he was superintendent at Eastern NY Correctional Facility in Napanoch.

Using archival footage, photographs and discussion, Miller will examine varied methods of punishment used in the early days of the state’s prison system. He will also go on to describe how times changed as the prison system began to emphasize rehabilitation and a more positive prison philosophy.

Miller has devoted 40 years of service to the NYS Criminal Justice System, beginning as a teacher at the Highland State training School and retiring as a NYS Supervising Superintendent for the Mid-Hudson Region in 2005.

TOLHPS sponsors free monthly public programs from September to June, usually on the first Monday of the month. Vineyard Commons is at 300 Vineyard Avenue, about a mile and a quarter from the Hamlet of Highland on Route 44/55, just south of the Hudson Valley Rehabilitation Center. To reach the theater, turn into Vineyard Commons and follow the signs to Building 6. At the request of Vineyard Commons management, audience members are asked to park their cars in the lot at the far right (west) end of the row of buildings that includes Building 6.

For more information about TOLHPS programs and plans, consult the organization’s website, www.TOLHPS.org, look for Town of Lloyd Historical Preservation Society on Facebook, or call 255-7742.