Title:
MS 2024-125 Kathy Berlin Collection, 1980-1988
Collection Number:
MS 2024-125
Scope and Content:
This collection contains material related to Kathy Berlin's time working as a correctional officer at the State Prison of Southern Michigan (SPSM) in Jackson, Michigan. Kathy entered the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) training academy in February 1987, started a permanent assignment at SPSM in June 1987, and left the job in October 1987. The collection contains the journal Kathy kept while at the training academy and working at the prison, notes and assignments from the MDOC training academy, training material specific to SPSM, items she carried in her pocket while working at SPSM, letters to her from people incarcerated at SPSM, material related to her employment at MDOC, and personal photographs and cards. Also included is a draft of a memoir titled "Fish Cop: A Woman Guarding Men Inside the World's Largest Walled Prison" and a digital file of the final memoir. Kathy also collected newspaper clippings, mostly from the Detroit Free Press, on topics related to SPSM. Those are: photographer Taro Yamasaki's seven-part series on life inside SPSM (December 1980), riots at SPSM and the Michigan Reformatory in Ionia (May 1981), the murder of correctional officer Josephine McCallum at SPSM (March 1987), and the murder of correctional officer Jack Budd at SPSM (December 1987).
Creator:
Berlin, Kathy S. Botkin (Kathy Sue Botkin), 1961-
Creator:
Berlin, Kathy S. Botkin (Kathy Sue Botkin), 1961-
Language:
English
Type of Resource:
text
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 personnel-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
Inclusive Dates:
1980-1988
Location of Originals:
Archives of Michigan
Use Restrictions:
Please contact the Archives of Michigan for permission to publish.
Access Restrictions:
Collection is open to the public.
