Downtime Project Collection, 1991-2006

Summary

Creator:
Downtime Project
Abstract:
Writings and artwork, submitted by incarcerated Americans, that portray their experiences of prison life
Extent:
4.25 linear feet
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Downtime Collection,

Background

Scope and content:

The Downtime Project Collection contains writings and artwork submitted by incarcerated individuals across the United States. Some contributors submitted writings regarding their thoughts and reflections on prison life. Others offered details about their arrests and convictions. Some contributors maintained their innocence, arguing the need for a retrial. A few contributors submitted their court records, usually to support their case they had been wrongly convicted. Others submitted their original poetry, song lyrics, or short stories, not all of which focused on prison life. Some inmates submitted artwork or decorated their envelopes with detailed drawings.

Prisons represented in the collection cover the entire United States, with significant contributions from the Midwestern and West regions of United States. Contributors were primarily male, with only a handful of submissions from women inmates. Contributors had been convicted for a wide variety of crimes, including murder, drug dealing, and larceny. Some contributors were on Death Row for their crimes. Wahlstrom was known to inmate contributors only as "A.W." In some instances, Wahlstrom engaged in ongoing personal communication and conversation with contributors, some of which is included within various submissions.

Please note that this collection contains material that some researchers may find objectionable due to racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, violent, or other harmful language and/or imagery. This material is preserved and retained with the collection for its historic and research value.

Biographical / historical:

The Downtime Project was initiated by the Man On The Street (MOTS) Library, a repository established by Alan Wahlstrom in 1988 that aimed to collect and preserve stories from common people. Wahlstrom defined it as "a repository where anyone at all, regardless of whom, could place their words, art, ideas, opinions...whatever... for the public to free[ly] access." At the end of 1991, MOTS Library started the Downtime Project, requesting submissions from incarcerated Americans that documented their life as prisoners. The library received hundreds of submissions from across the United States.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Alan Wahlstrom , 2021.
Arrangement:

The collection is arranged alphabetically by contributor's last name.

Access and use

Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advance notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Terms of access:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Preferred citation:

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Downtime Collection,

Location of this collection:
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries
Bird Library, Room 600
Syracuse, NY 13244, United States
Link to repository site
Contact:
315.443.2697
scrc@syr.edu