About This Project

“Forgotten: Life Histories of Indiana Prisoners”  is course project in HST 354 American In/Justice: The Prison as a Social History of the US at Butler University.  “Forgotten” focuses on reclaiming the histories of individuals sentenced to life in prison at the Indiana Prison in Michigan City at the turn of the 19th century. Student work draws from the statements provided by inmates and works to contextualize their lives within the post-Reconstruction prison reform movements and within a longer history of the prison. The records for this work include the Life Prisoner’s Statements held at the Indiana State Archive as well as newspapers, census, city directory and other contemporary records.

Please leave comments and suggestions below! We welcome your feedback.