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Building From Within: How Two Female Prisoners Survived Incarceration, Laura M. Cuevas Meléndez

Special Collections Research Center Learning Lab Student Research

According to the US Commission of Civil Rights, from 1980 to 2016, the percentage of imprisoned women surpassed 730% (4). Severe isolation, lack of sunlight, and sensory deprivation tactics were employed during the 1980s, when Silvia Baraldini and Laura Whitehorn were incarcerated at the federal women’s prison in Lexington, Kentucky. Both women maintained their basic humanity and spirit by creating educational opportunities for fellow inmates, advocating for improved conditions, and sharing their experiences through letter writing. They each wrote hundreds of letters to friends, family, and other social activists concerned with their plight. Using a collection of letters written by …