Address book made by Herman Wallace while incarcerated: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A small book made by Herman Wallace to hold contact information and pictures while incarcerated at Angola Prison.

The paper booklet is held together with tape and layered paper. The front face depicts a color image of two cartoon characters, a boy and a girl with red hair, standing among white, yellow, and red flowers. The boy is only partially visible, wearing a green hat, green and plaid trousers, brown booties, and holding a guitar. He looks towards the girl whose smiles with her eyes closed. She wears a large dotted hat, pink puffy-sleeved shirt, blue and white jumper dress, cinched blue bloomers, stripped stocks, and brown shoes. On the reverse of the booklet is a white backing with opening instructions.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: after 1972
• Created by: Herman Wallace, American, 1941 - 2013
• Subject of: Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, American, founded 1835
• Type: address books
• Type: make-dos
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 3 3/4 × 2 1/2 × 5/16 in. (9.5 × 6.4 × 0.8 cm)
• Place used: Angola, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: American South
• Topic: Communication
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Men
• Topic: Prisons
• Object number: A2018.36.1.11
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Maria Hinds
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.