Print Culture in Prisons: Promoting Entertainment in the Penal Press

In the mid-20th century, prisons allocated funds to publish newspapers and magazines for an imprisoned readership in monthly or weekly installments. Hundreds of imprisoned journalists organized under a loosely associated network called the Penal Press. This talk examines the visual strategies used by imprisoned journalists to advertise upcoming film screenings and other entertainment activities as observed in the WI Historical Society's Penal Press collection.