HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR STORY

To submit materials to the After Violence Archive — as an individual or as a prospective partner collection — please contact us at archive@texasafterviolence.org

ARCHIVE COLLECTIONS

AFTER VIOLENCE GENERAL COLLECTION

The After Violence General Collection is the first oral history project conducted by AVP staff and volunteers. The purpose of the collection is to capture and document the impact that the death penalty has had on individuals, families, and communities, and to facilitate dialogue surrounding capital punishment and its resulting trauma.

The scope of the collection has since grown to include oral histories surrounding state violence and its lasting emotional, social, and physical implications as experienced by individuals, family members, communities, and advocates. These oral histories document experiences from different perspectives including family members, advocates in academia and faith-based organizations, and people involved in the legal system.

Life and Death in a Carceral State:
Narratives of Loss and Survival

Life and Death in a Carceral State: Narratives of Loss and Survival is a collaborative project that documents, archives, and shares the stories of those whose lives have been directly impacted by Texas’ criminal justice system, including the experiences of people whose loved ones died in police, jail, or prison custody, as well as stories of formerly incarcerated people about their confinement and life after prison.

VISIONS AFTER VIOLENCE

The Visions After Violence Collection is the culmination of each Visions After Violence Community Fellowship Program cohort. Each year, three fellows are selected to document their community’s lived experience with state sanctioned violence. As members of communities who also share personal experiences with state sanctioned violence, fellows are able to provide a safe and trusting space to facilitate oral histories of impacted community members. Fellows and narrators are actively included throughout the interview and documentation process to ensure community agency, direction, and representation.

These oral histories describe the lives of individuals impacted by state sanctioned violence and their experiences with deportation, police brutality, incarceration, and its subsequent issues within reentry processes, interpersonal relationships, mental health, and survival. The collection provides an in-depth look at how state sanctioned violence impacts all facets of life.

LEGACY AFTER LOSS

The Legacy After Loss collection contains interviews, personal papers, artwork, correspondence, artifacts, and tributes that pay homage to people who have been killed by the death penalty or who have died while on death row in the United States.

This collection explores the building of legacy—both as a communal effort led by people facing execution at the hands of the state, and as a process of remembrance and grief-work carried out by their loved ones after their death.

The relationships highlighted in this collection include bonds between incarcerated writers and their pen pal(s), friendships borne out of spiritual counsel, and the relationships between those who are incarcerated and their loved ones on the outside.