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Size | 3.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 2000 items) |
Abstract | The Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons was organized in 1974 with the missions of abolishing the death penalty, stopping prison construction and dependency on incarceration, developing alternatives to incarceration, and protecting the human and civil rights of prisoners. The Coalition was active in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Kentucky until the early 1990s. Records include scattered office files of memos, quarterly reports from affiliate state organizations, newspaper clippings, materials relating to the execution of specific individuals, issues of the Coalition newsletter and of other prison and criminal justice reform groups, and miscellaneous short writings apparently collected by Coalition staff. Topics covered include prison reform, capital punishment, prisoners' rights, and criminal justice reform in general, and other materials. The affiliated state organizations represented are the Alabama Prison Project, the Clearinghouse on Georgia Prisons and Jails, the Florida Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice, the Kentucky Prisoners' Support Council, the Louisiana Coalition on Jails and Prisons, the North Carolina Prison and Jail Project, the South Carolina Criminal Justice Project, and the Southern Prison Ministry. |
Creator | Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons (U.S.) |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Roslyn Holdzkom, May 1993
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, March 2020
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
The Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons was organized in 1974 with the missions of abolishing the death penalty, stopping prison construction and dependency on incarceration, developing alternatives to incarceration, and protecting the human and civil rights of prisoners. Initially, the Coalition was active in six southern states: North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. By 1977, it was also active in Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Kentucky. Over its history, the Coalition operated with as many as ten and as few as four member organizations, among them the Alabama Prison Project, the Clearinghouse on Georgia Prisons and Jails, the Florida Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice, the Kentucky Prisoners' Support Council, the Louisiana Coalition on Jails and Prisons, the North Carolina Prison and Jail Project, the South Carolina Criminal Justice Project, the Southern Prison Ministry, and the Delta Ministry.
Operating with an executive director and central office in Nashville, Tenn., the Coalition produced a quarterly newsletter and sponsored project coordinators in member states. Each project coordinator was charged with identifying persons and groups in his or her state that shared the Coalition's goals and organizing these individuals and groups into local coalitions to develop education programs on prison and criminal justice reform, to identify and prioritize the needs of state and federal prisoners in their locality, to identify and prioritize areas in need of immediate change or reform within the criminal justice and penal systems, and to formulate and implement plans of action aimed at bringing about the necessary changes.
The Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons and its member organizations were financed by contributions from individuals and by grants from various private funding agencies. Some of the constituent organizations have apparently survived the demise in the early 1990s of the Coalition.
Back to TopRecords include scattered office files of memos, quarterly reports from affiliate state organizations, newspaper clippings, materials relating to the execution of specific individuals, issues of the Coalition newsletter and of other prison and criminal justice reform groups, and miscellaneous short writings apparently collected by Coalition staff. Topics covered include prison reform, capital punishment, prisoners' rights, and criminal justice reform in general, and other materials. The affiliated state organizations represented are the Alabama Prison Project, the Clearinghouse on Georgia Prisons and Jails, the Florida Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice, the Kentucky Prisoners' Support Council, the Louisiana Coalition on Jails and Prisons, the North Carolina Prison and Jail Project, the South Carolina Criminal Justice Project, and the Southern Prison Ministry.
Back to TopArrangement: Alphabetical
Folder 1 |
ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union): Capital Punishment Project, 1978-1979Testimony of Henry Schwarzschild, memorandum, news releases. |
Folder 2 |
ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union): Death Penalty: GeneralCompilation of photocopied newspaper articles. |
Folder 3 |
Alabama Prison Project, 1979 |
Folder 4 |
Amnesty International, 1979"A Worldwide Strategy to End Capital Punishment." |
Folder 5 |
Jesse Bishop execution, 1978-1979Jesse Bishop, a white man, was the first person to be executed in Nevada after the death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976. Chiefly photocopied newspaper articles. |
Folder 6 |
Clark Proposal, 1980"Alternatives to Incarceration in the South: A Proposal for Southern Prison and Jail Reform." |
Folder 7 |
Conference on the Death Penalty, 1981"No Killing in the Name of Justice: Organizing Against the Death Penalty." |
Folder 8 |
Delancey Street Rehabilitation Center, 1978Reprints of articles. |
Folder 9 |
L. C. Dorsey, 1979Letter and essay relating to internal organizational conflicts. |
Folder 10 |
England: Death penalty, 1979Newspaper articles. |
Folder 11 |
John Evans executionJohn Evans, a white man, was the first person to be executed in Alabama after the death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976. Photocopied newspaper articles, viewing guidelines for media reporting from Fountain Correctional Facility, press releases. |
Folder 12 |
Expert witnesses |
Folder 13 |
Florida Citizens Against the Death PenaltyHandwritten draft of memo seeking supporters to sign on to a printed advertisement. |
Folder 14 |
Florida Clearinghouse on Criminal JusticeCopies of letters and newspaper articles. |
Folder 15 |
Georgia Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice, 1978Newsletter and photocopied newspaper articles. |
Folder 16 |
Gary Gilmore execution, 1976Gary Gilmore, a white man, was the first person to be executed in the United States after the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Mailgram from North Carolina Prisoners Union in support of commutation of Gilmore's death sentence. |
Folder 17 |
Health care proposal |
Folder 18 |
Incarceration Rates (United States), 1979Compiled by National Moratorium on Prison Construction. |
Folder 19 |
Joseph Ingle, 1985Photocopied newspaper articles that quote Joseph Ingle, who was director of the Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons at that time. |
Folder 20 |
Robert Kanjian, 1980Photocopied newspaper articles and letter about Detective Kanjian, who spoke out about the possibility of errors in death penalty convictions. |
Folder 21 |
Lethal injection, 1978-1979Reports, photocopied of newspaper articles. |
Folder 22 |
Louisiana Coalition, 1977-1982Reports, Inside newsletters, letters. |
Folder 23 |
Maps of southern states with counties |
Folder 24 |
Maryland: Alternatives to IncarcerationLetter on prison construction and photocopied newspaper articles. |
Folder 25 |
Memos: Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons, 1977-1982Staff letters, minutes, budgets, funding proposal, and the original charter filed in Tennessee; also includes letters from Southern Prison Ministry, a project of the Committee of Southern Churchmen Inc. |
Folder 26 |
Mississippi Prisoners Defense Committee, 1978Letter and essay by L. C. Dorsey, list of capital murder convictions. |
Folder 27 |
William Nagle: "A Statement on Behalf of a Moratorium on Prison Construction," 1976-1977 |
Folder 28 |
National March Against Death, 1979Letter, printed material. |
Folder 29 |
News clippings: Death penalty, 1978Photocopied newspaper articles. |
Folder 30-31
Folder 30Folder 31 |
Newsletters: Content, 1987-1990Articles and other materials to be used in Southern Coalition Report newsletters. |
Folder 32 |
Newsletters: Alternatives to Incarceration Bulletin, 1984-1985A publication of the North Carolina Prison and Jail Project. |
Folder 33 |
Newsletters: Death Penalty Bulletin, 1985A publication of the North Carolina Prison and Jail Project. |
Folder 34 |
Newsletters: Death Watch, 1977-1978A publication of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). |
Folder 35 |
Newsletters: In These Times, 1980Publication of Promoting Enduring Peace. |
Folder 36 |
Newsletters: Jericho, 1977-1987Newsletter of the National Moratorium on Prison Construction. |
Folder 37 |
Newsletters: Journal of the National Prison Project, 1984-1990 |
Folder 38 |
Newsletters: Liberty & Justice in South Carolina, 1978Publication of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) of South Carolina. |
Folder 39 |
Newsletters: Liberty to the Captives, 1977-1982 |
Folder 40 |
Newsletters: LifeLines, 1981-1987 |
Folder 41 |
Newsletters: LifeLines, 1988-1990 |
Folder 42 |
"Moratorium Working Papers," 1980-1982A publication of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee National Moratorium on Prison Construction. |
Folder 43 |
"Moratorium Working Papers," 1983-1986 |
Folder 44 |
Newsletters: Moratorium Bulletin, 1990A publication of St. Louis American Friends Service Committee. |
Folder 45 |
Newsletters: National Catholic Reporter, 1987-1988 |
Folder 46 |
Newsletters: Prison and Jail Project News, 1980-1989A publication of the North Carolina Prison and Jail Project. |
Folder 47 |
Newsletters: Southern Coalition Report on Jails & Prisons, 1978-1990 |
Folder 48 |
North CarolinaMiscellaneous printed materials of North Carolinians Against the Death Penalty and Lone Vigil. |
Folder 49 |
Playboy printing memo, 1978Internal memos regarding sexism in office communications about a printing offer from Playboy magazine. |
Folder 50 |
Jack Potts, 1979Jack Potts, a white man, gained attention as a person on death row in Georgia who wanted to be executed, although ultimately was not. Biographical information and newspaper article. |
Folder 51 |
Press contacts: Southern states |
Folder 52 |
Prison construction litigationIntervenor's complaint filed in Chancery Court in Nashville, Tenn. |
Folder 53 |
A Regional Effort for Prison and Jail Reform: Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons grant proposal, 1978-1979 |
Folder 54 |
Reidsville Brothers, 1978The Reidsville Brothers were a group of 6 Black men, Jesse Whitaker, Forrest Jordan, Andrew Johnson, James Collins, Moses Evans, and Case Johnson, who were tried for their participation in a rebellion against guard brutality and racist attacks at the Reidsville, Ga. prison. Printed materials. |
Folder 55 |
Robert ShevinPhotocopied newspaper articles. |
Folder 56 |
South Carolina Criminal Justice Project quarterly report, 1978 |
Folder 57-59
Folder 57Folder 58Folder 59 |
John Spenkelink execution, 1979John Spenkelink, a white man, was the first person to be executed in Florida after the death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976. Agenda of executive clemency hearing; handwritten notes for a press release relating to anti-death penalty protests by the Southern Coalition for Jails and Prisons; appeals to the governor of Florida seeking commutation of John Spenkelink's death sentence; appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay of execution; memorial service program; anti-death penalty flyer and pamphlet; photocopied newspaper articles. |
Folder 60 |
State reports: Alabama Prison Project, 1980-1981, 1983, 1985 |
Folder 61 |
State reports: Clearinghouse on Georgia Prisons and Jails, 1979-1983, 1985 |
Folder 62 |
State reports: Florida Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice, 1979-1981 |
Folder 63 |
State reports: Kentucky Prisoners' Support Council, 1980-1981 |
Folder 64 |
State reports: Louisiana Coalition on Jails and Prisons, 1978-1981, 1985 |
Folder 65 |
State reports: Mississippi Correctional Reform Association, 1980-1981, 1985 |
Folder 66 |
State reports: Prison and Jail Project of North Carolina, 1980-1983 |
Folder 67 |
State reports: South Carolina Criminal Justice Project, 1978, 1980-1981 |
Folder 68 |
State reports: Southern Prison Ministry (Tennessee), 1978, 1980-1981, 1985 |
Folder 69 |
State reports: Tennessee, 1979-1980 |
Folder 70 |
State reports: Virginia, 1985 |
Folder 71 |
Stop Olympic Prison, 1979Appeals to stop the construction of prison at Lake Placid, N.Y. |
Folder 72-73
Folder 72Folder 73 |
Tennessee Criminal Sentencing Reform, 1989 |
Folder 74 |
Tennesseans Against the Death Penalty, 1978 |
Arrangement: Alphabetical