Eastern State Penitentiary names Constitution Center’s Kerry Sautner as new CEO

Kerry Sautner will be the next president and CEO of the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site.

Sautner will take the reins after 18 years with the National Constitution Center, where she has most recently served as chief learning officer.

When she begins this new role at Eastern State on July 10, she will be only the second person in the museum’s 29-year history to do so.

The board of directors of the penitentiary announced Sautner’s impending arrival on Wednesday, noting her “breadth of museum experience.”

“I have a deep passion for teaching the history and modern impact of the criminal justice system to illuminate freedom and voice within our Constitutional system,” Sautner said in a statement.

At the Constitution Center, Sautner is in charge of its educational programming, online and in-person, as well as day-to-day museum operations, and is involved in budgeting and strategic planning. She joined the Constitution Center in 2005 after working in program development and training at the Franklin Institute. She’s also been an adjunct professor of education at Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania.

While Eastern State Penitentiary has become well-known for the elaborate haunted house that takes place there every fall, it also serves as a museum, one that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors a year for tours and other programming. In recent years, it has increasingly sought not only to educate people on the site’s history but also to examine the racist roots of the American prison system and the present reality of mass incarceration that disproportionately affects Black people.

The prison operated from 1829 to 1971, holding almost 85,000 people over that time. After it closed, the building sat vacant, its nearly 11-acre lot wildly overgrown, for about two decades.

“I look forward to collaborating with the team and our stakeholders to strengthen the institution’s position as our nation’s leading criminal justice museum, and to build upon the impressive work of creating a national platform for dialogue and change,” Sautner said.

The penitentiary’s outgoing president and CEO, Sara Jane “Sally” Elk, is retiring but will remain on staff through late July, helping Sautner with the transition.

“With impressive qualifications and a passion for museums and the power of place, Dr. Sautner is the leader we need to guide Eastern State through its next era of growth, engagement, and impact,” said John McInerney, the board chairperson and head of the search committee.

Sautner received doctorate and master’s degrees from Drexel University, and a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University. She is also vice president of the Lower Merion School District board and treasurer of the board of the National History Day Philly, a national history education program and contest for middle and high school students.