leadership lessons

Thank you for publshing the story, “SC Honors Father of Modern Corrections.” That was about my father, Ellis C. MacDougall.

It was a proud day for my family in July to see my Dad being honored at the SC Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame.

My step-mom spoke on behalf of our family and unfortunately there was not enough time for us “kids” to tell some of the stories we remember. There are many stories like the time he had to leave the dinner table after announcing “there’s a riot at the prison with a hostage.”

When he arrived at the prison gate, he asked the guard “Which cell unit?” The guard replied, “Cell Block D.”

Dad said “Hand me the shotgun, I know who started this.”

He kicked in the door of Cell Block D and told the suspect prisoner “Let that officer go or I’m going to blow your head off.”

That was the end of that riot. That’s the way it was done back then. By the way, that inmate attended my Dad’s funeral.

With five states and five correctional facilities under his command, he always walked the grounds of the prisons and got to know the inmates. He wanted them all to get help, get out and lead better lives.

He dedicated his life to improving prison systems across America. He served as the SC Director of the Department of Corrections from 1962 to 1968 where the prison in Ridgeville was named in his honor and the I-26 Exit 187 interchange is now named “Ellis MacDougall Interchange” for his dedication to better criminal justice.

Dad became the first Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Corrections.

He was commissioner of the Georgia Department of Corrections and Offender Rehabilitation serving under Gov. Jimmy Carter. He was the Organizing Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and co-founder of USC’s College of Criminal Justice where they have the Ellis MacDougall Lecture Series.

As Director of the Department of Corrections in Arizona, he was there when the famous Tison Prison Break occurred. Two weeks later Tison and one son were dead and the others were captured.

A movie was made about it in 2017 called “The Last Rampage.” After the escape, Dad divided the prison into five units each with their own warden to relieve overcrowding.

Dad invented an innovative fence that uses gravity where the arc of the fence bends over a climber. He probably learned some of those tactics from me and my brothers.

That fence is now in hundreds of prisons. Dad called it the forehead fence because colleagues hit their foreheads and say “that’s so simple, why didn’t I think of it?”

He served as President of the American Correctional Association whose President Charles Kehoe called him a “man of vision, compassion and wit, filled with love of his fellow humankind”. I now understand why he missed a few of my birthdays. He was out solving world problems and making improvements for those that may not receive any other help along their way.

My Dad was bigger than life and even today I’m still learning from him. He would have been so proud of his kids and grandkids. And even though they will not get to meet him, I will keep his stories alive

Steve MacDougll, Lexington

The writer is Lexington’s mayor.