The cover of the September, 1990 issue of The Angolite

Cold War Flames on US Soil: The Oakdale Prison Riot

In the 1980s, Cold War tensions led to thousands of Cubans languishing in American prisons, unable to be released or repatriated. Uprisings followed.
Phillip Vance Smith, II surrounded by covers of Nash News

What’s It Like to Be an Editor of a Prison Newspaper?

The incarcerated editor of The Nash News in North Carolina shares about the power of higher ed and his work at the prison newspaper.
Cook County jail detainees cast their votes after a polling place in the facility was opened for early voting on October 17, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois

Voting Rights for People Convicted of Felonies

Formerly incarcerated people comprise the largest group of disenfranchised American voters. The American Prison Newspapers collection offers fresh insight into the issue.
closeup of the hancduffed hands of a person patterned as the gay pride flag

Teaching LGBTQ+ History: Queer Women’s Experiences in Prison

This instructional guide is the first in a series of curricular content related to the Reveal Digital American Prison Newspaper collection on JSTOR.
Close-up Vintage Wooden Hourglass on Wooden Background, Sand running through the bulbs for measuring the passing time

The Meaning of Time in The Hour Glass

Writings from a women's prison in the 1930s grapple with philosophical questions on time and life. “The mere lapse of years is not life.”

The Lives Beyond the Life Sentences

Their lives didn't stop when the judge sentenced them to life in prison. Then what? A 1994 issue of The Angolite profiled the longest-serving Americans.
Legal Corner

Search Warrants and Case Law, a Prison Primer

The laws around search and seizure as they apply to average people, explained by Rafael Torres, an incarcerated Inmate Counsel Substitute in Louisiana.
Maia Szalavits

On Drugs and Harm Reduction with Maia Szalavitz

Author of Undoing Drugs and NYT columnist Szalavitz talks history, science, media shifts, politics, and how the US might mitigate its overdose crisis.
From Sunfighter, Volume 3, Issue 2, 07-01-1975

Juneteenth: A Freedom Celebration Behind Bars

Juneteenth is commemorated by an incarcerated Black woman in a 1975 issue of Sunfighter. What does it mean to celebrate freedom when you have none?
The Last Class

The Last Class, 28 Years Later

What happened to the last of the Pell Grant-funded prison higher ed graduates and their paralegal skills? Open Campus's Charlotte West and Angolite associate editor John Corley report.