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Concrete Mama: Prison Profiles from Walla Walla
Journalists John McCoy and Ethan Hoffman spent four months inside the walls of the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla in 1978, just as Washington, once a leader in prison reform, abandoned its focus on reform and rehabilitation and returned to cell time and punishment. It was a brutal transition.
McCoy and Hoffman roamed the maximum-security compound almost at will, observing and befriending prisoners and guards. The result is a striking depiction of a community in which there was little to do, much to fear, and a culture that both mimicked and scorned the outside world. McCoy's unadorned prose and Hoffman's stunning black-and-white photographs offer as authentic a portrayal of life in the Big House as "outsiders" are ever likely to experience.
Originally published in 1981, Concrete Mama revealed a previously unseen stark and complex world of life on the inside, for which it won the Washington State Book Award. Long unavailable yet still relevant, it is revitalized in a second edition with an introduction by scholar Dan Berger that provides historical context for the book's ongoing resonance, along with several previously unpublished photographs.
McCoy and Hoffman roamed the maximum-security compound almost at will, observing and befriending prisoners and guards. The result is a striking depiction of a community in which there was little to do, much to fear, and a culture that both mimicked and scorned the outside world. McCoy's unadorned prose and Hoffman's stunning black-and-white photographs offer as authentic a portrayal of life in the Big House as "outsiders" are ever likely to experience.
Originally published in 1981, Concrete Mama revealed a previously unseen stark and complex world of life on the inside, for which it won the Washington State Book Award. Long unavailable yet still relevant, it is revitalized in a second edition with an introduction by scholar Dan Berger that provides historical context for the book's ongoing resonance, along with several previously unpublished photographs.
288 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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March 13, 2015I read this book a long time back, and it made an impression. I guess I've got to read it again some day. My main memory was being surprised that the bikers had a metal shop to work on their bikes in prison, they could ride within the grounds, and what's less surprising is that they used their shop to manufacture knives.
February 3, 2024
Walla Walla State penitentiary is one of the first institutions built in Washington. Cities competed for it during our founding as a state. Which city got it would get state money and state jobs. It's been the site for amazing experiments in rehabilitation and punishment, revenge and community. It's a shining example of civilization and a horrifying place of violence and misery.
Two reporters were allowed to roam there in the late 1970s, interview staff and prisoners, and take lots of pictures. They published a book in 1981. It's a fascinating glimpse in a changing world. At the beginning, there was a real attempt at redemption and giving inmates a measure of autonomy. By the end, much less so. Shortly before, order was maintained with horrific brutality but also there were picnics on the grass a motorcycle rides within the walls.
This book is a reprint and, to some extent, an update. The update came out a class at the UW - I don't know what the class was -- that somehow acquired the prison papers of Ed Mead. Ed Mead was sent to Walla Walla after, as a member of the George Jackson Brigade, bombed the headquarters of the Department of Corrections in Olympia. I've worked in Olympia for 25 years and I did not know that had happened. He was sent immediately to the intensive management unit, which sounded brutal.
Mead went on to help found Men Against Sexism, which back in the 1970s attempted to stop prison rape and the discrimination against gay and trans prisoners. Another thing I did not know exist. For this I am ashamed. He wrote a great review of the book. https://waprisonhistory.org/blog/wp-c...
While the book has been updated with introductions, and afterwards, and restored photos, the text hasn't changed. The text is a fascinating time capsule. Much of the language is cringeworthy and neutral in places where no good person should be neutral. There are a lot more Nazis in this book than I was expecting. But the portraits of the people and forces are vivid and human.
Some of the pictures are available at https://waprisonhistory.org/blog/wp-c.... Well worth the time.
Two reporters were allowed to roam there in the late 1970s, interview staff and prisoners, and take lots of pictures. They published a book in 1981. It's a fascinating glimpse in a changing world. At the beginning, there was a real attempt at redemption and giving inmates a measure of autonomy. By the end, much less so. Shortly before, order was maintained with horrific brutality but also there were picnics on the grass a motorcycle rides within the walls.
This book is a reprint and, to some extent, an update. The update came out a class at the UW - I don't know what the class was -- that somehow acquired the prison papers of Ed Mead. Ed Mead was sent to Walla Walla after, as a member of the George Jackson Brigade, bombed the headquarters of the Department of Corrections in Olympia. I've worked in Olympia for 25 years and I did not know that had happened. He was sent immediately to the intensive management unit, which sounded brutal.
Mead went on to help found Men Against Sexism, which back in the 1970s attempted to stop prison rape and the discrimination against gay and trans prisoners. Another thing I did not know exist. For this I am ashamed. He wrote a great review of the book. https://waprisonhistory.org/blog/wp-c...
While the book has been updated with introductions, and afterwards, and restored photos, the text hasn't changed. The text is a fascinating time capsule. Much of the language is cringeworthy and neutral in places where no good person should be neutral. There are a lot more Nazis in this book than I was expecting. But the portraits of the people and forces are vivid and human.
Some of the pictures are available at https://waprisonhistory.org/blog/wp-c.... Well worth the time.
November 8, 2025
Great entry in this genre. It’s dated for sure but captures a super local point in time so well. Definitely worth using in your corrections classes!
April 6, 2020
This was a great historical read about how outside events influenced the dynamics and inside workings of the prison. Even if you are not from WA this is a fascinating read of life inside.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews