Nevada Historical Society
High Noon Series
September 2026 – April 2027

November 19, 2026

Title: Nevada’s Prison History

Speaker: Glen Whorton, historian

Talk Summary: The Nevada State Prison is a hidden and underappreciated element of Nevada’s history.  Glen Whorton’s talk about this 150-year-old institution will cover how the criminal and political history of the State and the prison are entwined. From the political birthplace of the State of Nevada to Governors who became Wardens and State officials who became prisoners. Learn about the stories of the largest prison escape and the longest prison escape and recapture, and the weird tale about how it occurred. Finally, how the Prisoners’ pickaxes and stone saws were fundamental to the construction of the State’s essential structures.

Speaker Bio: Glen Whorton is a graduate of Sparks High School, the University of Nevada. With a master’s degree from the University of South Carolina. He began working at the Nevada State Prison in 1973 as an Officer Trainee.  He retired from the Department of Corrections in 2007 as the Director. 

In retirement he has been an ombudsman for the Attorney’s General Office, and a contract hearing officer for the Nevada Parole Board.  He served in the Army as an aviator and was an instructor at both Northern and Southern Community Colleges.  He is a past president of the Nevada State Prison Preservation Society.