Interpreting the latrines of the Johnson's Island Civil War Military Prison (Sandusky Bay, Lake Erie, Ohio)

Investigations of the prison compound latrines from the Johnson's Island Ci vil War Military Prison site provide a unique opportunity to explore a mult itude of questions related to military life and POW treatment during the Am erican Civil War. Johnson's Island (Ohio), a Union prison for Confederate o fficers, contained special use areas within the compound and their associat ed latrines which can be evaluated chronologically. Coupled with the extens ive primary documentation existing for this prison, investigations to date have centered around how these unique latrines exhibit both the POW experie nce as well as changing Union policy towards prisoners. These latrines capt ured lost items, were the repository for primary and secondary deposits ref lecting the material culture available to the prisoner at the time, and ser ved as the staging areas for escape attempts.