Post by Admin on Sept 23, 2021 19:18:20 GMT
REVEAL DIGITAL COLLECTIONS
Introducing American Prison Newspapers, 1800-2020: Voices from the Inside
This overlooked corner of the press provided news by and for people who were incarcerated. A newly available archive shows it worked hard to reach outside audiences too.
daily.jstor.org/introducing-the-american-prison-newspapers-collection/
In December 1915, the men at Wyoming State Penitentiary—population 276—established a “Red Hot Rag with a Pep” called J-A-B-S. The magazine offered a bit of news and plenty of commentary, bound in a colorful cover and illustrated with a tiny jester carrying a pointy sword. Its title and avatar suggested editorial interest in sharp humor. The first issue’s opening pages, however, were conciliatory and aimed for broad appeal. J-A-B-S planned to be a “non-sectarian and non-political” publication that “will give everyone a square deal—that can stand it.” For the modest price of 500 dollars for 500 years (or an annual fee of $1.20), outside subscribers could peek into the fortress-like structure of the Rawlins prison.
How many people took the puckish editors up on this offer? The surviving copies that made their way via the University of Wyoming’s collections into Reveal Digital’s latest archival project, American Prison Newspapers, 1800-2020: Voices from the Inside, tell us little about audience size. But they indicate something important about outreach. In addition to providing news by and for the incarcerated, the prison press long aspired to use its pages as a tool to “poke holes in the wall,” as Tom Runyon, editor of Iowa State Penitentiary’s Presidio put it, and reach outside audiences too.
Introducing American Prison Newspapers, 1800-2020: Voices from the Inside
This overlooked corner of the press provided news by and for people who were incarcerated. A newly available archive shows it worked hard to reach outside audiences too.
daily.jstor.org/introducing-the-american-prison-newspapers-collection/
In December 1915, the men at Wyoming State Penitentiary—population 276—established a “Red Hot Rag with a Pep” called J-A-B-S. The magazine offered a bit of news and plenty of commentary, bound in a colorful cover and illustrated with a tiny jester carrying a pointy sword. Its title and avatar suggested editorial interest in sharp humor. The first issue’s opening pages, however, were conciliatory and aimed for broad appeal. J-A-B-S planned to be a “non-sectarian and non-political” publication that “will give everyone a square deal—that can stand it.” For the modest price of 500 dollars for 500 years (or an annual fee of $1.20), outside subscribers could peek into the fortress-like structure of the Rawlins prison.
How many people took the puckish editors up on this offer? The surviving copies that made their way via the University of Wyoming’s collections into Reveal Digital’s latest archival project, American Prison Newspapers, 1800-2020: Voices from the Inside, tell us little about audience size. But they indicate something important about outreach. In addition to providing news by and for the incarcerated, the prison press long aspired to use its pages as a tool to “poke holes in the wall,” as Tom Runyon, editor of Iowa State Penitentiary’s Presidio put it, and reach outside audiences too.