Preserving Their Stories: Archiving Mass Incarceration

FAIN: PR-290136-23

Ithaka Harbors, Inc. (New York, NY 10006-1895)
Kurtis Tanaka (Project Director: May 2022 to January 2024)
Laura Brown (Project Director: January 2024 to present)

A Tier 1 project to research the challenges that non-traditional memory organizations face in preserving and making accessible materials created by incarcerated people.

Ithaka S+R, in partnership with the Justice Arts Coalition (JAC), requests $74,376 for a 12-month Tier 1 grant that aims to understand the challenges that community organizations like prison arts programs, books to prisons programs, and higher education in prison programs face in preserving and making accessible materials created by incarcerated people. The immediate objectives of the project are to 1) conduct exploratory desk research to identify organizations that are collecting or receiving work made by incarcerated people 2) conduct interviews with representatives of those organizations to document their partnerships, training, and resource needs in preserving and making materials accessible, 3) build relationships among key stakeholders; and 4) host a remote convening to share findings and plan for a subsequent program of research, training/resource development and implementation. The proposed period of performance is March 1, 2023-February 29, 2024.