Moneta Sleet, Jr.
Prison Cellblock, Michigan

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Images(3)

Artist Moneta Sleet, Jr. (American, 1926–1996)American, 1926–1996

CultureAmerican

Titles

Prison Cellblock, Michigan

Date1952

PlaceJackson, Michigan, United States

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 13 1/2 × 10 1/2 in. (34.3 × 26.7 cm)
Sheet: 13 15/16 × 11 in. (35.4 × 27.9 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Harry and Macey Reasoner

Object number91.328

Not on view

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Department

Photography

Special Collections

Photographs by African American Artists

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionIn April 1952, two maximum-security prisoners in Jackson, Michigan, overpowered a guard and used his keys to release the other inmates in their wing. The resulting takeover of the prison lasted nearly a week and kicked off a wave of similar riots around the country. By the end of 1953, more than 45 riots occurred in 21 states across the nation. Photojournalist Moneta Sleet returned to the Jackson prison to document the nature of the prison system. Sleet’s stark, silhouetted photograph conveys the harsh conditions and loss of individuality typical of incarceration.
ProvenanceThe artist; purchased by MFAH, 1991.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

verso center a stamp "PHOTO BY / MONETA SLEET JR."

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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