Sledge Hammer from the Ohio State Prison Fire

Origin
On April 21, 1930, a major fire killed 322 inmates and seriously injured 150. The fire is the deadliest prison fire in United States history. A cordon of penitentiary guards was thrown about the towering prison walls. Other squads took up vantage points in guard towers and by this time 500 soldiers from Fort Hayes, local military post, were on the scene. Machine guns were mounted at the gates and on the walls. Bayonets were fixed and the troopers were ordered to shoot to kill. A troop of National Guardsmen soon augmented the regulars, and 30 minutes after the fire started the prison was completely surrounded.

According to a report of the disaster: "With flames licking towards him one inmate who had seized a sledge hammer refused to run. He hit blow after blow, knocking locks from cell doors and saving the lives of an estimated 136 trapped men."

Trivia
This artifact is rumoured to have a relative: a file. Another inmate, in the chaos caused by the fire, used a file to weaken his cell doors. Just as the door was about to yield, an officer shot him dead. The file is theorized to have a similar effect to the sledge hammer.