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Architectural Flaws of the Tombs Prison

by David Marin Quiros   Image: The Tombs: 1926[1] In 1902, Manhattan welcomed their back prisoners to a newly designed city prison, colloquially called “The Tombs.” The previous structure was torn down after decades of poor conditions as seen by its lack of ventilation and massive overcrowding. Its former Egyptian revival style mimicked a mausoleum,[2] […]

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Prison Organizing against Cruel Women’s Conditions

by Stephanie Green Great Speckled Bird page 1 1751560_19750710_0013 (1) page 2 Source: Great Speckled Bird, Vol 8, Issue 28, July 10, 1975 My primary source [1] describes a 1975 peaceful protest to eventual riot outside of North Carolina  Correctional Institute for Women. This prison is the only women’s prison in North Carolina and held […]

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The Rise of Prisoners’ Unions in the 20th Century

by Chirag Bellani Image: “Support Jackson Prisoners’ Self-Determination Union!!”[1]             The 1970s was a period in which prisoners demanded better treatment and sought, through a series of strikes and movements across the country, access to their civil and judicial rights. As Dan Berger writes in his book Captive Nation: Black […]

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Penal Sentencing and the Latino Juvenile Offender

by Taylor Huie Source: “Latinos in the Juvenile Justice: Youth Crime, but Adult Time”[1] Written by Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute fellow Angela  Medina in 2001, the article shown above was published by El Editor, a weekly bilingual English and Spanish newspaper based in Midland-Odessa, Texas.[2] This article details the effect of “tough-on-crime” legislation on rulings […]

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Union Prison Camp during the American Civil War

by Kevin Repice Image: Reminiscences Of The War Of The Rebellion 1861-1865, 305-06[1] This document was created by Bvt. Maj. Jacob Roemer during his time as a Union soldier during the American Civil War from 1861-1865. The source was edited by L.A. Furney, most likely sometime before Roemer’s death in 1896. However, this person is […]

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Convict Leasing and Racial Capitalism

by Genoveva Ntirugelegwa Juvenile convicts at work in the fields[1]   While we have dissected prison in many different time periods and forms throughout this course, convict leasing is a part of prison history that I have become increasingly interested in. Convict leasing developed throughout the South immediately after the Civil War. In Sarah Haley’s […]

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Prisoner Activism and Organization

by Jonathan Schachter Source: “I Make American Flags for Thirty-five Cents a Day”[1] This article, from a December 16, 1972 – January 5, 1973 issue, was published by a newspaper entitled Fifth Estate. The piece “I Make American Flags for Thirty-five Cents a Day,” details the sentiments and experiences of a convict laborer at Green […]

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Convict Leasing in 1920s Georgia

by Audrey Vila Source: “Papers of the NAACP: Prisoner leasing to states and federal prisoner treatment legislation” [0] Published as an NAACP subject file, the source is a collection of newspaper articles about an alleged instance of convict leasing in Georgia in 1929. Almost 100 Black prisoners were leased from the Atlanta Federal Prison to […]

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$50 reward for the capture of Henry Williams!

by Xitlali Ramirez Image: “$50 reward for the capture of Henry Williams!”[1]   The image shown above was created by P. J. Rogger under the Tennessee Coal, Iron, & Rail Road Company (TCI) in the 1880s.[2]  The source claims that a convict named Henry Williams escaped from the Pratt Mines prison. TCI purchased Pratt Mines […]

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Presidio Modelo

by John Markis Image: Presidio Modelo circa 1930[1]   Captured just before the Presidio Modelo’s opening in the early 1930s, this image depicts the panopticon’s eminence, a towering effigy of state control within the barren landscape.[2] The University of Florida released a complete album of Cuban architecture in 1970 to bolster its collection of miscellaneous […]

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