Ashley Rubin

The Invention of Incarceration

Prisons have been controversial since their beginnings in the late 1700s — why do they keep failing to live up to expectations?
Close up of illustration of prisoners from La Roca

St. Patrick’s Day in Prison

Offhand references to St. Patrick’s Day showcase broader humor, humanity, and history in the American Prison Newspapers collection.
A farmer in Louisiana, 1972

The USDA Versus Black Farmers

Current attempts to correct historical discrimination by local and regional offices of the USDA have been met with charges of "reverse discrimination."
Elizabeth Keckley

Elizabeth Keckley’s Memoir Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four in the White House

Keckley’s decision to write about her employers from the viewpoint of a household laborer—she was seamstress to Mary Todd Lincoln—enraged audiences.
A circus poster from 1912

Race and Gender Under the Big Top

The circus provided opportunities to some in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, but could not avoid the racism and misogynoir of the "outside world."
From the cover of FAAR News, November 1, 1977

Feminism, Self-Defense, and (Not) Calling the Cops

The feminist movement of the 1970s worked to raise awareness of violence against women, but diverged on the role of law enforcement in fighting it.
Black students are provided with a military escort when entering and leaving Little Rock Central High School, Arkansas, following the school's desegregation, 1957

Black Woman Correctional Officer Graduates at Age 62

Segregated schools, cotton, SNCC, and more. A 2004 essay in Long Line Writer, Arkansas DOC Cummins Unit, reveals the perils of life in the Delta.
Dr Martin Luther King Jr (1929 - 1968) waves to the crowd of more than 200,000 people gathered on the Mall after delivering his 'I Have a Dream' speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Washington DC, 28th August 1963.

“I Have A Dream”: Annotated

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s iconic speech, annotated with relevant scholarship on the literary, political, and religious roots of his words.
Two pins calling for Angela Davis to be freed from prison

50 Years On: How Angela Davis’ Focus Changed in Jail

In a 2012 interview published in Social Justice, Angela Davis spoke about her detention in jail and how it informed her work on abolition and feminism.
J.P. Ball's Great Daguerrian Gallery of the West

Introducing “Archives Unbound”

In her new column, Dorothy Berry offers an inside look at the work of the digital archivist, while highlighting forgotten figures in Black print culture and public life.