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American Foundation Institute of Corrections files on American prisons
Notifications
Held at: Eastern State Penitentiary [Contact Us]2027 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19130
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Eastern State Penitentiary. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
"William G. Nagel [was] president of the American Foundation in Philadelphia from 1969 to his retirement in 1983... Now known as the Bok Tower Gardens Foundation, the entity operated an institute of corrections, of which Mr. Nagel was director. The institute conducted national studies that resulted in the 1973 work The New Red Barn: A Critical Look at the Modern American Prison."
Bibliography:
Quoted text from: Naedele, Walter F. "William G. Nagel, 92, Longtime Prison Reformer." Philadelphia Inquirer, April 8, 2009. Accessed June 19, 2012. http://articles.philly.com/2009-04-08/news/25287170_1_honorary-doctorate-longtime-prison-state-prison-reform
The American Foundation Institute of Corrections files on American prisons consist of materials compiled by William G. Nagel in his capacity as president of the American Foundation, Inc. Institute of Corrections. It includes correspondence with and reports on correctional facilities and organizations throughout the United States (circa 1970), as well as studies and reports on general prison conditions and inmate care (circa 1962-1980). A few photographs are interspersed in the files. The collection also features five film reels of short films distributed by the American Foundation: "The Odds Against" (1966, nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short), "The Price of a Life" (1967), "The Revolving Door" (1969, winner of an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short), and "Arthur: A Portrait" (1970).
Gift of the Historic Bok Sanctuary, 2007.
Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2011-2012 as part of a pilot project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.
In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Inc. directly for more information.
People
Organization
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- Eastern State Penitentiary
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Celia Caust-Ellenbogen and Michael Gubicza through the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories
- Sponsor
- This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- Access Restrictions
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Contact Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Inc. for information about accessing this collection.