The Resurrection Archives honor legacies of organizing, survival, and resistance on the land now known as the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. From its origins as a chattel slavery plantation to its evolution into the largest prison in the United States, Angola carries more than two centuries of continuous confinement, forced labor, torture — and resistance.

Against this 200-year unbroken lineage of captivity, people held on these 18,000 acres build movements through whispered teachings in solitary confinement, embed coded messages in gardens, and conceive legal strategies through pen and paper that reshape state and national policy. They create extraordinary music, art, and journalism, and fight to chronicle the truth of life within the system.

The Resurrection Archive seeks to tell their stories, uplift their legacies, and inspire future organizing towards new visions of freedom.

Our archive is built upon the foundation of years of collaborative practice that disrupts the forced isolation of prisons. Currently incarcerated at Angola, FTG Resurrection Archives Coordinator Robert McKee is our chronicler of the movement leaders still held in confinement. To suggest a figure for the archive, please email info@freedomtogrow.org.