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The Independence Day Riot

Prisoner-guard tensions were mounting. Contributing to tensions in the prison, was the fact that by 1968, 85 percent of the prisoners were black, as were the lower ranking guards, while supervisors were white, as well as violence between inmates and abuse by guards.

On July 4, 1970 violence broke out that injured over 100 people, Mayor Rizzo blamed it on politicized African Americans who attacked white inmates and guards. This was countered by reform organizations and groups that pointed to overcrowding, the lack of meaningful activities for prisoners, and the abuse by guards. Prisoners were racially segregated and black Muslims were segregated .

There was also a lack of supervision by guards throughout the prison, leaving it to the prisoners to manage prison life.: 221–228

On May 31, 1973, Warden Patrick Curran and Deputy Warden Major Robert Fromhold were killed by inmates at Holmesburg, over disputes over a meeting place for Muslims. They are the only known staff members to be killed in the line of duty at the PDP.: 303 The Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility (CFCF), which opened in 1995, was named in their honor. Each May 31, the PDP pays tribute to the Warden and Major and their surviving families, in honor of their sacrifice.

50 prison trustees, watched over by four armed guards, also provided labor to nearby Camp Happy, a summer camp for the underprivileged children of Philadelphia. The children's clothing was canvas and issued by the camp, with the prison providing laundry services for the camp.

Closure

The facility was closed in 1995 .

After that, until 2017, Holmesburg was often used for tactical training exercises, and was featured in several major motion pictures such as Law Abiding Citizen (2009), Fallen (1998), and Up Close and Personal (1996). Holmesburg no longer allows any visitors (citizens, film crews, photographers, historians) to have access to the building or the grounds. Holmesburg was also reopened for overcrowding during 2007-2015. It was also saturated with asbestos .

In popular culture

The prison was the location for many of the scenes in the 1995 film Condition Red, the 1996 film Up Close & Personal, the 2000 film Animal Factory, the 2009 film Law Abiding Citizen, and the 2017 film ‘’Against the Night’’.

The prison was also part of an art project by Spanish artists María Jesús González and Patricia Gómez who created large-scale prints, photographs and related videos during their artist residency at the prison. The artists' prints are a physical archive of the prison cells—including paint, drawings and markings left by the inmates who lived there.