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Karen A. Reixach Prison Reform Papers

Notifications

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. 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

Karen Adkinson Reixach was born in 1944, the daughter of Burton Wilbur Adkinson and Margaret Klock Adkinson of Washington, D.C. She attended Grinnell College and earned a masters degree in English from the University of Chicago. In 1968 she married Rene Henry Reixach, Jr. She joined the Society of Friends in 1973, received by request at Scarsdale Monthly Meeting. Later that year she and her husband moved to Rochester, N.Y., and she transferred her membership to Rochester Monthly Meeting.

A Quaker meeting for worship was established at Auburn Prison in 1974, and in 1975, it became a preparative meeting under Scipio-Farmington Regional Meeting. As a representative of Rochester Monthly Meeting, Karen Reixach served on the Auburn Prison Friends Meeting Oversight Committee until December 1975. In February 1977 meeting for worship began at Attica Prison. She served as clerk of the Attica Oversight Committee until 1984. She also served on the New York Yearly Meeting Prison Committee from 1977 to 1987, Rochester Prison Committee until 1986, the Friends Committee on National Legislation in 1984, and NYYM Witness Coordinating Committee in 1984 (and again in 2000 and 2003) as well as being active in Alternatives to Violence Program.

While working with Auburn and Attica Prison meetings, she attended the University of Rochester and received a M.S. in public policy. She also worked as the Project Coordinator for Safe Start Rochester, Children's Institute, a Monroe County organization designed to help children exposed to violence.

Contains correspondence, minutes, and other papers concerning Karen A. Reixach's work with Quaker worship groups at Auburn Prison and Attica Prison in New York State. She was active in prison reform and Quaker outreach, serving as representative from Rochester Monthly Meeting and clerk of the Oversight Committee at Attica Prison.

Organized into two series:

  1. Correspondence, minutes and related papers
  2. Miscellaneous

Donor: New York Yearly Meeting, 1997

Transferred from the Haviland Record Room in 1997 as part of the transfer of New York Yearly Meeting records to Friends Historical Library. When New York Yearly Meeting Prison Committee Records were processed in the summer of 2006, it was decided that Karen Reixach's papers containing her work on prison reform should be an independent collection. The papers were received in folders which included correspondence and other papers; this order was maintained, with the folders placed roughly in chronological order and described in the finding aid.

Publisher
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Finding Aid Author
FHL staff
Finding Aid Date
2007
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce items in this collection beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder or their heirs/assigns. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/.

Collection Inventory

Archival Resource Key. Auburn Oversight Committee, 1974-1976.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Includes Committee minutes, Rochester Prison Committee minutes, etc.

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Auburn Oversight Committee, 1974-1977.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Mostly minutes

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Auburn Prison Meetings, 1974-1975.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Reports

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Auburn Indulged Meeting, 1974-1976.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Reports on the Meeting

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Reports to Regional Meetings, 1975-1983.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Concerning Attica and Auburn Prison meetings

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. One Religion Rule, Attica, 1975-1981.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Correspondence and related papers

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Attica Oversight Committee, 1976-1985.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Minutes, correspondence

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence, Attica, 1977-1980.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Correspondence with inmates, prison officials, other Friends concerning Indulged Meeting at Attica

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence, fight at Attica, 1979-1982.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Correspondence concerning fighting among inmates

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence, Attica, 1980-1985.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Correspondence with inmates, prison officials, other Friends concerning Indulged Meeting at Attica

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Minutes, Attica Friends Meeting, 1980-1985.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Includes minutes from Attica Indulged Meeting

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence concerning problems with worship directives, Attica, 1981-1982.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Correspondence concerning problems with worship directives at Attica, call list

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Female Volunteers, Attica, 1982-1983.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Primarily about regulations limiting visits by female volunteers

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Rochester Monthly Meeting Prison Committee, 1975, 1976, 1978.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Oversight Committee: Includes minutes, visitor info for Auburn, other prison reform organizations

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Rochester Prison Committee: Correspondence, 1976-1983.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Reixach correspondence

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. New York Yearly Meeting Prison Committee Correspondence, 1977-1984.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Correspondence

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. New York Yearly Meeting Prison Committee Minutes, 1981-1986.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Minutes

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Rochester Prison Committee Annual reports, 1975-1983.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Annual reports to Rochester Monthly Meeting

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Rochester Friends Prisoner Assistance Fund, 1982.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Guidelines

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Quarterly Meeting, 1974.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Status of Auburn

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Roll and Functions, 1976.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Concerning Auburn Prison Meeting

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Directives, 1976.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Documents from N.Y. Department of Corrections

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Attendees, Attica, 1979-1981.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Mainly attendance lists, some correspondence

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Attica Meeting, job descriptions, 1982.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Structure of business meeting

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Attica conditions, 1983.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Reference file

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Attica treasury, 1983.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Financial report

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Information for outsiders, 1983, n.d.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Guidelines, queries, advice from New York Yearly Meeting

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. NYYM Prison Committee Clerk, job description, 1977-1980.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Includes NYYM Prison Committee minutes

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Guidelines for Emergency Fund, 1979, 1984.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Written by NYYM Prison Committee

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. NYYM Prison Committee, 1979-1984, n.d.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Workshops, address list, etc.

Physical Description

1 folder

Print, Suggest