Prison Project Files
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Yeh, Lily
setName: label: See more items in
content: Lily Yeh papers
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2 Linear Feet (Boxes 1-2, OVs 3-10)
label: Extent
content: 56.51 Gigabytes (ER001-ER031)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1988-2024
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.yehlily, Series 1
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Gigabytes
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The series is arranged into three subseries.

1.1: Bellefonte Prison, 1988-2005

1.2: Graterford Prison, 1990s-circa 2020

1.3: General Program Records and Other Prisons, 1990s-circa 2020
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The bulk of the series has been digitized. Items not digitized include blank versos of photographs and the full text of some publications for which only covers and/or relevant pages have been digitized. The banners, except for one, have not been digitized due to size.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Prison project files consist primarily of Yeh's correspondence with inmates at Bellefonte, Graterford, and other Pennsylvania prisons. The correspondence documents the artistic aspirations of many of the prisoners and the extent to which their relationships with Yeh and their involvement with The Village of Arts and Humanities programs was beneficial to all involved. The series documents inmate participation in poetry, theater, and art classes, and includes correspondence with young community members, records of involvement with prison organizations such as Lifers Incorporated, and contributions to the publication "The North Philadelphian." 

Also documented is participation in community events and exhibitions, in particular the exhibition Unimaginable Isolation: Stories from
Graterford Prison. Records of this exhibition include photographs of the installation, artists, and individual artworks at Eastern State Penitentiary and Chestnut Hill College, and banners created by artists for the exhibition. 

Additional general files include descriptions of the prison project written by Yeh and information on related resources and programs. 

Digital material consists of correspondence with inmates at Bellefonte and other area prisons and Yeh's projects at SCA Muncy.

Also included is additional, digital material for the Graterford Project. Material includes additional correspondence and writings by inmates, inmate testimonials and interview transcripts, articles, images, and a number of videos with inmates creating their works or preparing perfromances.