Fish Cop (1)

Object Type: Asset
In Folder: Kathy Berlin Collection

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Fish Cop (1)

Item Data

Collection Number: MS 2024-125

Scope and Content: "Fish Cop" is a memoir by Kathy Berlin that describes her experience working as a correctional officer at the State Prison of Southern Michigan in Jackson, Michigan, in 1987.

Creator: Berlin, Kathy S. Botkin (Kathy Sue Botkin), 1961-

Language: English

Type of Resource: text

Genre: memoir

Extent: 1 file, 3.02 MB

Digital Origin: born digital

Subject: Prisons-Michigan-Jackson

Subject: Prison riots-Michigan-Jackson

Subject: Prison violence-Michigan-Jackson

Subject: Women correctional officers-Michigan-Jackson

Subject: Correctional personnel-Training of-Michigan

Subject: Correctional personnel-Violence against-Michigan

Subject Name: State Prison of Southern Michigan

Subject Name: Michigan. Department of Corrections

Location of Originals: Archives of Michigan

Use Restrictions: Please contact the Archives of Michigan for permission to publish.

Notes

Content Statement: This item contains descriptions of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and violence in prisons. It also contains dehumanizing language describing incarcerated people.

Biography or Historical Note: The Michigan State prison, Michigan's first prison, opened in Jackson, Michigan, in 1839. In 1926, after moving to a new building, it became the largest walled prison in the world. It was renamed to the State Prison of Southern Michigan in 1935. Starting in 1988, the prison was divided into several smaller facilities. As of 2024, these are: Parnall Correctional Facility, G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility, Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center, and Cooper Street Correctional Facility. The 1926 prison building (then called the Southern Michigan Correctional Facility) was closed in 2007 and operated as a museum known as Cell Block 7 from 2014 to 2019.

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Archives of Michigan https://michigan.gov/archivesofmi