The papers were presented at a conference that brought together current and former directors of the Federal Bureau of Prisons as well as scholars focusing on the origins, purpose, history, and current characteristics of the Federal prison system. Individual papers detail the history of Federal corrections, the role of the maximum-security prisons of Alcatraz and Marion, prisons for female offenders, and the archival sources relating to Federal imprisonment. Additional papers focus on three developments in which the Federal system has provided important leadership to the States: (1) inmate classification and programming, prisoners' rights, and executive management. The final panel consisted of the three directors of the Federal Bureau of Prisons who had collectively led the bureau since 1964 and who discussed past and current correctional practice in the United States. They discussed the abolition of parole, privatization in corrections, prison populations as a result of sentencing changes, correctional staff development, and corrections management. Photographs, chapter reference notes, author biographies, and index