The walls of the Nevada State Prison have witnessed more than 150 years of history with stories of law, punishment, humanity, and redemption that shaped the Silver State. This summer, those stories come to life.

Nevada State Prison Chronicles is a free speaker series presented by the Nevada State Prison Preservation Society, bringing together historians, medical professionals, justice-involved voices, and corrections insiders to share the stories that defined life behind these walls.

Join us on Thursday evenings this summer for candid, compelling conversations you won't hear anywhere else. Each session takes place at 6:00 PM and admission is free with a suggested donation of $10 helping support the preservation of Nevada's most historic institution.

What: Nevada State Prison Chronicles - Free Summer Speaker Series

When: Thursdays at 6:00 PM | July 16, 23, 30, & August 6, 2026 | Doors open at 5:30 PM 

Where: Nevada State Prison – 3301 Warm Springs Ct, Carson City, NV 89701

Admission: Free | Suggested donation: $10 | Space is extremely limited. RSVP to save your spot.

Additional Info: nevadastateprison.org/chronicles

July 30 - Glen Whorton

The Notorious: Infamous Inmates & Unforgettable Stories of the Nevada State Prison

Glen Whorton knows the Nevada State Prison the way few people ever will. A Nevada resident since 1959, he earned a history degree from the University of Nevada and served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam before a chance encounter outside a civil service exam in 1973 launched a 32-year career in Nevada corrections.

Whorton rose from Correctional Officer Trainee at NSP to serve as Classification Approval Authority for the entire state system, then as Chief of the Division of Offender Management and Deputy Director of Operations - before being called back from retirement to serve as Director of the Nevada Department of Corrections. He was at the helm when the prison's last inmate was removed in 2012.

When the Nevada State Prison Preservation Society was founded, Whorton was there from the first meeting. He helped draft the state legislation authorizing NSPPS as caretaker of the prison, proposed its name, designed its logo, and personally paid the federal nonprofit filing fee. Today he serves as Chairman of NSPPS' History Committee - the organization's institutional memory and its most devoted storyteller.

His public presentations on NSP history range from the sobering (the full history of executions at the prison) to the delightfully strange - including the story of George Meredith, a con man who escaped custody, impersonated prison officials across the country, nearly purchased a yacht for 'prison use' on Lake Tahoe, and ended up as Al Capone's cellmate. As Whorton puts it: 'You just can't make it up.'

In his Chronicles talk, Whorton will share the stories of the most notorious, fascinating, and improbable inmates ever to pass through the Nevada State Prison gates - drawn from decades of research and a lifetime of institutional knowledge.