My Visit to The Gangster Museum of America

By Guy Cheli

Left: Robert Raines Collection, The Gangster Museum of America. Owen Madden and associates. 1910s
Right: Robert Raines Collection, The Gangster Museum of America. Owen Madden with an unidentified associate. 1933

Readers of the SSPM newsletter often ask for historical information about men and women who were incarcerated at Sing Sing Prison. The following story by Guy Cheli provides a profile of Owney Madden who served time at Sing Sing from 1919 to 1923. Known as "the Killer" by friends and foes, Madden was a notorious gang leader and celebrity in New York City's underworld.

My name is Guy Cheli, author of Images of America’s Sing Sing Prison. I was recently invited to The Gangster Museum of America at Hot Springs, Arkansas for an interesting interview. The Museum is an historic account of some of the most infamous and notorious gangsters of the 20s, 30s and 40s. History about the many underworld crime bosses who moved to Hot Springs to ease pressure from the FBI and each other can also be found there. Robert Raines the owner and director of the museum, thought I would be a great addition to his documentary about former mobster and Sing Sing inmate Owney Madden. In the documentary I was interviewed about the relationship between Madden and Warden Lewis Lawes.

The link between Madden and Sing Sing is very interesting. Owen (Owney) Madden’s life of crime began around 1910 in the Hell’s Kitchen section of New York where he led the Gopher Gang. Called a vicious killer by some, Madden began changing his ways after arriving at Sing Sing in 1915. By the time Lewis Lawes became warden in 1920, Madden was pretty much a model prisoner.

Soon after Madden’s parole in 1923, he started to profit from prohibition, becoming the king of bootlegging. He also opened the famous Cotton Club in Harlem, going on to own many night clubs including the very prestigious Stork Club. Warden Lawes allowed certain privileges to Madden and he was able to run his business from behind the walls of Sing Sing. Lawes even made Madden’s cohort, “Jimmy the Shiv” his personal
chauffeur allowing him to be his link to the streets. The Wardens wife, Mrs. Kathryn Lawes, and Madden were very close leaving her and her family protected on the outside.

​Lawes and Madden would remain friends for the rest of their lives. Warden Lawes often visited Hot Springs where Madden went to retire.

During my visit, I stayed in The Al Capone Suite at the famous Arlington Hotel.

​Guy Cheli (pictured on the right) is a member of the Ossining Historical Society, a writer, and the author of Images of America: Sing Sing Prison published 2003 by Arcadia Publishing. He lives in Somers, NY and has been researching and writing about Sing Sing Correctional Facility for decades.

​KEEP LEARNING:
​
About Owen Madden
The Gangster Museum of America at Hot Springs
Arlington Hotel
Owen (Owney) Madden
The Gopher Gang
History of Hot Springs Arkansas 1
History of Hot Springs Arkansas 2

Left: Guy Cheli Collection. Baseball. 1922
Right: Guy Cheli Collection. Etching Prison River. 1878