Newspaper clippings, pamphlets, flyers, correspondence, etc. on the prison reform movement focusing on the Pontiac Correctional Center, a state prison in Pontiac, Illinois, where 31 prisoners were prosecuted for roles in the 1978 rebellion, one of the largest prison riots in the United States. Seventeen of the prisoners were tried on death penalty charges and became known as the Pontiac Brothers. Several local religious organizations worked in the effort to save them from execution, including Sister Miriam Wilson of St. Scholastica Priory in Chicago. Much of the correspondence in the collection is between Wilson and prisoners and politicians. Most of the pamphlets and flyers are in support of the prisoners and discuss the rebellion and conditions at the prison, which was known for its crowded quarters and harsh treatment of prisoners before the rebellion. Some items were published by various church groups and the Pontiac Prisoners Support Coalition. Also included is "Prisoners are People Too," a compilation of poems by John Bailey, one of the inmates; and "Pontiac: a captivating narrative observation of one of America's largest criminal cases, by a mother whose son was tried as a death defendant in this case," by Marie Tolbert. A "Free the Pontiac Brothers" t-shirt is also present.
