Throw Away the Key Exhibition

Professor Hilary Marland and Dr Rachel Bennett worked with the archivists of the University of Warwick’s Modern Records Centre to curate an exhibition exploring the impact of prisons on health.

The exhibition showcased several of the key research strands of our project. A display was created with a select range of images, records and artifacts, exploring day-to-day prison life alongside testimony from prisoners of their experiences of health and ill health in prison. The exhibition focused in particular on women’s health and maternity care in prison, mental health, the wellbeing of juvenile prisoners, the reflections of prisoners on their confinement, prison doctors, governors and chaplains, and prison reform.

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. It also host regular exhibitions based on its collections.

Throw Away the Key drew particularly 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.

Throw Away the Key ran from Monday 18 February to Friday 5 April 2019 at the MRC at the University of Warwick, with free entry.

• 9-5pm Mondays and Tuesdays
• 9-7pm Wednesdays and Thursdays
• 9-4pm Fridays.

The MRC is closed on Saturdays and Sundays.