Throw Away the Key: 150 Years of Prison Medicine and Health

Professor Hilary Marland and Dr Rachel Bennett are working with the archivists of the University of Warwick’s Modern Records Centre to curate an exhibition exploring the impact of prisons on health. It showcases several of the key research strands of the Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award, Prisoners, Medical Care and Entitlement to Health in England and Ireland, 1850-2000.

The Modern Records Centre (MRC) at the University of Warwick was founded in 1973 with the principal objectives of locating and preserving primary sources for modern British social, political and economic history. It holds a treasure trove of archival material relating to criminal justice and prison reform. Throw Away the Key has particularly drawn on the MRC’s records of pressure and protest groups concerned with human rights, health, and social and welfare reform in prisons, including the Howard League for Penal Reform.

On display will be a select range of images and records exploring day-to-day prison life alongside testimony from prisoners of their experiences of health and ill health in prison. The exhibition focuses in particular on women’s health and maternity care in prison, mental health and the wellbeing of juvenile prisoners.

Throw Away the Key runs from Monday 18 February to Friday 5 April 2019 at the MRC at the University of Warwick. Entry is free:

· 9-5pm Mondays and Tuesdays

· 9-7pm Wednesdays and Thursdays

· 9-4pm Fridays.

The MRC is closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

There will be a drinks reception to mark the exhibition at 5.30pm on Tuesday 12 March 2019 in the MRC’s exhibition space. All are welcome.