I was recently asked about resources around archives, images, and prisons. Here are three resources that address these topics.
Indiana University Women’s Prison History
A college-course for incarcerated women led to an unveiling of the history of an Indiana prison. Women read historical texts through their own experience as a way of growing the archive and disturbing the history on the prison. More on the course is available at Prison history assignment yields surprise, passion for research and a student publication is available at Women’s Prison History: The Undiscovered Country.
The Prison Public Memory Project works to unearth histories and relate them to contemporary issues around incarceration and penal systems. It includes archival photographs and records alongside new media and oral histories.
Prison Photography is a collaborative effort to include recent and archival images of prisoners (I believe it is primarily focused on the United States). Here is a highlighted project that disrupts the boundaries of time by including the notes of present-day prisoners on historical images – Vast Archive of 10,000 Negatives Unearthed at San Quentin
Dr. Jeanie Austin 