F4. Roundtable Carceral Sickness: Towards Inclusive Research with New York State Correctional Facility Records Chair: Richard McKay, University of Cambridge
Kevin Kareem Brooks, Independent Scholar, Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison
Leon “Struggle” Davis, Independent Scholar, Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison
Reginal Qualls, Independent Scholar, Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison
This roundtable discussion will reflect upon the groundbreaking experience of a team of researchers - three formerly incarcerated college graduates and one university-affiliated historian - working together to investigate questions of sickness, disability, race, and scientific racism using century-old prison records at the New York State Archives.
The roundtable’s four speakers came together to work on an exploratory research project intended to broaden access to archival prison records and animate the expertise of people with lived experience of the carceral system. The project focuses on records from Elmira Reformatory and Eastern Correctional Facility at Napanoch, two New York institutions linked through hundreds of prisoner transfers, and especially by the carceral journey of one man whose 1920s syphilis infection and prison experience initially attracted the historian’s attention in 2020.
In 2023, the historian participated in a powerful work-in-progress presentation about this man’s experience with an audience of formerly incarcerated alumni of Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, in Ossining, New York. Their collective wisdom and enthusiasm encouraged the historian to co-design this collaborative project with guidance and funding support from Hudson Link, leading to additional funding from the New York State Archives Partnership Trust in the form of a Larry J. Hackman Research Residency award in 2024.
In addition to reflecting upon the project design, the speakers will discuss their experiences of recruitment and interviews in spring 2024, their six days of archival research and reflective discussions during summer 2024, and three presentations, culminating with one to college students inside Sing Sing Correctional Facility. They will share the successes and challenges of their journey and lessons learned about the value of such partnerships for reaching broader audiences. They will also give attention to the issue of dehumanization in prison systems past and present, the role of prison psychiatrists in shaping the New York state carceral system, and the fraught relationship of documentary evidence to prisoners’ lived experience.
* Develop a historically informed understanding of sickness and health in the carceral system
* Learn new ways of designing and conducting health history research
* Develop an understanding of the influence of eugenics and scientific racism on medical practice and patient experiences
