Inside Stories

Illustration "from the Editor's Desk," published in Avatar, May 1978, pg. 3.

Lurking within the prison press are unexpected and relatively unknown histories of incarceration. Why were prisoners so invested in the visits of Queen Elizabeth II? Did you know that Collins Bay Penitentiary hosted decades of Special Olympics events inside their walls? What exactly did it mean if an inmate was designated "on the bitch?"

Click the links on the right to explore these "inside stories."