The History of Prison Publications and the North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union

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The first prison newspaper, called the Prison News, began in the early 1900s as a hobby craft.
Government officials and prison leaders wrote articles for the prison newspaper, while prisoners wrote anonymous editorials.
There is a lost history of unauthorized prison publications.
Dr. Amanda Bell Hewitt is researching and writing a book about mass incarceration in North Carolina.
The North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union started in 1973 and received a $14,000 grant.

A little over sixty years ago, there were 250 prison newspapers being published on a regular basis. Today, there are 26. We visit Nash Correctional Institution in North Carolina to meet Phillip Vance Smith, II, the editor of The Nash News.

Learn more about the American Prison Newspapers digitization project here. Listen to more of Fresh Air’s interview with Angolite editor Wilbert Rideau here. Special thanks to Terry Gross and Fresh Air, which is produced at NPR member station WHYY and distributed by NPR.

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