When the Prisoners Ran Walpole: A True Story in the Movement for Prison Abolition

by Jamie Bissonette, Jamie Bissonette, Ralph Hamm (Contributor)

In 1971, Attica’s prison yard massacre shocked the public, prisoners, and political leaders across the United States. Massachusetts residents pledged to prevent such slaughter from ever happening there, and the governor agreed. Thus began a move for reform that eventually led to the prisoners at Walpole’s Massachusetts Correctional Institute winning control of its day-to-day operations. When the Prisoners Ran Walpole brings this vital history to life, revealing what can happen when there is public will for change and trust that the incarcerated can achieve it. In the months before they took over running the maximum-security facility in 1973, prisoners and outside advocates created programs that sent more prisoners home for good, slowing the turn of the famous revolving door by 23 percent and decreasing Walpole’s population by 15 percent. When guards protested the changes they saw as choking their livelihoods, finally refusing to run the prison, the prisoners stepped ably into the void—and all-out peace ensued. They shrank the murder rate from the highest in the country to zero . Even more significantly, they worked hard to bury racial antagonism and longstanding feuds so even “lifers” with no hope of going home could find ways to live together, learn, and grow—to regain, finally, the humanity that the system intended to squash. Critical to the work of prison abolitionists and transitional reformists alike, this groundbreaking history offers a real-life example of a prison solution many see only as theoretical. It not only reminds us why people seek to make prisons obsolete, but also recalls a time when we were much closer to these abolitionist goals. Jamie Bissonette , co-director of an AFSC (American Friends Service Committee) Criminal Justice Program, wrote her inspiring account with the aid of the complete archives and interviews bestowed to her by the prisoners, outside advocates, and policymakers who created this remarkable history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, American History

272 pages, Paperback

First published April 4, 2007

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

this timely book is the revelatory, gripping history of a group of prisoners (allied with community organizers and sympathetic government leaders) who knew that the only way to reform prisons was to shut them down.

the book chronicles how they went about making it happen. at the center of the book are the prisoners themselves who overcame racial polarization by organizing themselves and exerting their sovereignty as state workers through the formation of a collective bargaining unit called the national prisoners reform association.

when the guards walked off the job, prisoners, along with civilian observers, ran the joint more efficiently, humanely, and democratically.

ultimately, the walpole experiment was broken by the guards union, the boston herald newspaper, the norfolk district attorney, george burke, governor francis sargent, the superintendent of walpole prison, walter waitkevich, and the new commissioner of corrections, colonel john moriarty, who replaced john o. boone.

but this is the detailed, moving story of visionaries living and working in the most racist, violent, dehumanizing institution (the prison) in the united states who dared to change themselves, the assumptions of millions, and their own destiny.

when the prisoners ran walpole is a brilliant book for anyone interested in social change that is led by those most impacted. within its pages you will meet the likes of ralph hamm, bobby dellelo, john o. boone, ed rodman, and phyllis ryan, just to name a few.

i highly recommend watching the extraordinary footage in 3000 years to life and frederick wiseman's documentary, the titicut follies, to visually understand the conditions and punitive practices these men were facing.

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspirational! This book really provides a good case for prison abolition. What I appreciated most was the agency of the prisoners that the author allowed to shine through. A must-read for anyone interested in the prison-industrial complex and/or social change!!!

[Weston Scheck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does what it does exceptionally well, and with a mastery that is typically impossible for such a monumental and symbolic historical event. The in-depth primary sources and moment-to-moment coverage of the goings on in and around the prison make for an incredibly engaging and thorough read. Seeing the prisoner's personal perspectives on the events sets this book apart in the literature, and makes this an absolute must read for any prison abolitionist. The ideas presented here, that prisoners should be involved personally in reform and become an active part of their own reentry into society is a radical thought that is backed up by all of the actions taken by the inmates throughout the book. The action's of the guards, then, are seen clearly as a means to protect an illegitimate system and keep material interests in touch. The framing the NPRA uses of labor organization to fight for bargaining and recognition is also extremely unique, and the pseudo-legal status the organization took on always felt tenuous and susceptible up until the end. Although the book is well researched and concise throughout, the additional ruminations in the beginning and final chapters were also extremely effective and added to the overall reading experience in a substantive way. Having direct statements from Dellelo and Hamm, who had become characters at this point in the book, was quite insightful and served as a great cherry on top. This is a criminally underrepresented point in reform history and I feel lucky to have had access to such a substantial work on the subject.

[warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

important history that delves into many different facets of prison culture and organization. its well sourced narrative shows how imprisoned people, when given the chance, will govern themselves healthily, productively, and with dignity. it shows how when people put work into building trusting interpersonal relationships, solidarity supercedes old grievances to create a community of support and power. only annoying thing is that at times the higher-up political drama of it goes on a bit long and those parts are less interesting & valuable than the parts immediately about the prison. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in exploring abolition, or folks who just want to read some fascinating incarcerated perspectives. this narrative shows humanity at some of its highest potential, people living and acting on bold, liberatory ideals in an environment that is so totally designed to oppress ... we have so much to learn from this ... read!

[Ian Cressman]

For my final history paper

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bissonette has an unabashed anti-guard and pro-prisoner bias, often making conclusory statements about the guards' motivations -- often based in racism -- without giving explanations or examples to support her point. She provides little independent corroboration of her account of the events at Walpole State Prison in 1973: perhaps because little is out there (and she does cite pieces in the mainstream press at times, often following highly public and visible events), but the alternative is relying on the stories of inmates told decades after the fact. So the accuracy of the account, in both what is told and what is omitted, is a little dubious at points. (At the same time, racism and police/guard brutality were admittedly a lot worse 35 years ago, so I may have been too skeptical.) And I also don't buy her argument that prisons have been growing because the state needs cheap labor. There are other bad reasons why we are so pro-incarceration - mostly because we're short on mercy and forgiveness and long on desire for retribution - but this one I doubt. And her delivery is often kind of heavy-handed.

However, she makes some really strong arguments about how the correctional system is fundamentally broken and needs drastic reform (or abolition, if you're more optimistic about human nature). She demonstrates that prisoners can keep the peace if they're not agitated from without and they have reason to overcome their racial and cultural differences and work together. She makes some interesting points about prisoner self-determination that, although they overreach, are worth considering. So it's worth a read, if one is willing to read it as what it was intended to be and not what you might expect it to be.

[Craven · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really don't know where to start with this book. I guess I'll start with a quick summary it's about a movement for prisoner reform in Massachusetts that started from inside the prison. One started by militants on the inside who rise up against foul conditions, abuse and torture. Eventually, they end up unionizing and running the prison itself, with much less violence and tension. For that brief time there was real change inside the prison, before the movement was crushed. Yet, still the uprising had lasting effects on prisons and prisoner's rights. Unfortunately, that's all I'm compelled to tell you, because I was able to retain very little from this book. You see, I'm a bit saddened to say that this book was completely unreadable and I can't recommend it to anyone. It takes a subject that's vital interesting, progressive and full of life and makes it dry, academic and boring. I would love to read this story from maybe a memoir standpoint of somebody who was there on the inside. But as it is it's really a chore to read, and honestly I don't know how it could be changed; I mean, if it's completely essential to list full and abridged proposals made by the prisoners to the wardens and endless detail of that sort, then there's no way anybody could make a book out of this story that I would want to read. But somehow I fail to think that's necessary. It made me think of why everyone seems to like oral histories these days. It may be kind of a cop-out from having to actually write a book, but at least it delivers the goods. Which this one really fails to do. I feel bad saying bad things about a book of this subject matter. But what can I do? Though, when the oral history comes out I'm all in.

*this review originally ran in Razorcake Magazine

[Bart · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You can't reform this corrupt system. It is rotten to the core. Abolishment is the only course of action and don't say it can't be done. I have seen a lot of abolishment in my lifetime. I only wish I was as young as all of you" - John O. Boone (as cited in When the Prisoners Ran Walpole, p. 50)
I found the above quote from the ex-prison commissioner of Massachusetts pretty inspiring. The book has some pretty depressing accounts (what accounts of prison are not?) of the terrors that prison systems are. The prison staff perpetuate violence and fuel racist hatred to keep order and prisoners enslaved, as the 13th Amendment allows. And indeed, when the guards walked out of Walpole and the prisoners ran the institution, violence ceased. This book serves as important documentation of this three month period, as well as the preceding years and aftermath of the prisoners running Walpole. While the amount of details is important, many of the details lost me. Many parts were also confusing chronologically.

[Alan Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

This country made an incredibly bad choice in the late 1970's, building more and more restrictive prisons, and stuffing more and more people into its prisons. This book examines the choices not made.

Dip urging. A brief few months immediately after Attica, Mass. Engaged in a forward looking change in the operation of Wlapole. Officials recognized a democratically elected union as the official representative of the prisoners, and engaged in a series of negotiations to change the way the prison operated--on the theory that prisoners had great insight into what they need to become productive members of society. When the guards resisted, the administration stuck with its reforms. The guards walked out, leaving the prisoners to run the prison. And they did. There were zero murders, rapes, or other serious incidents.

However, the guard manipulated public pressure, the politicians caved, and the State Police used violence to "retake" the prison, and break the prisoners' union.

Many very import a lessons to be learned here. Please read.

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells a great story--the story of the prisoners at Walpole Maximum Security Prison and their struggle to gain union status as state workers. In the aftermath of the Attica Uprising, state officials and concerned residents of Massachusetts focused on restructuring prisons to assist prisoners in reconnecting and reentering their communities. However, the prison guards union was adamantly opposed to these reforms. After many prisoner strikes and much guard violence, the guards union went on strike and... believe it or not... the prison ran smoothly and without prisoner on prisoner violence for two months. This book isn't the easiest read, but the inspiring story of the struggle for freedom and humanity, and the insight into the violent structure of prisons themselves, totally make it a worthwhile read.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not exactly a page-turner, except at the end. This book is what it needs to be: an incredibly detailed history to inspire through logistics and personal accounts.

Soon-to-follow: documentary by the AFSC called 'three thousand years and life' about Walpole while the prisoners were in charge. Look out for it.

[Cale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing book. The woman who wroyte it is clearly involved in the activist and abolitionist movements and so is critical of some of the actors and always very supportive of the prisoners' role in this (at least to me) unheralded example of prisoner autonomy from the early 70's.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely detailed history of prison reform and abolition efforts dating back to early 1970s. Politically very interesting but written in several different authors' typefaces was hard to get through.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little dry in writing, but absolutely inspirational in content.