Malcolm Bell papers on the Attica Prison uprising, 1968-2023

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Summary

Creator:
Bell, Malcolm, 1931- , Wicker, Tom, Jelinek, Donald A., and Thompson, Heather Ann, 1963-
Abstract:
Malcolm Bell (1931- ) is an author, lawyer, and whistle blower; he was formerly a prosecuting attorney for the State of New York's Department of Law task force investigating the September 1971 Attica Prison Uprising. Collection comprises Bell's extensive investigative notes, witness statements, legal memoranda, trial records, correspondence, writings, clippings, subject files, and audio recordings related to the Attica Uprising. Also included are drafts for Bell's book, both written and electronic, The Turkey Shoot: Tracking the Attica Cover-Up, a documentary video, Ghosts of Attica, and ephemera such as programs and fliers. Subjects include events during the uprising, the subsequent cover-up, investigative efforts, and legal cases; Attica anniversary events; activism on behalf of Attica Uprising victims; and related topics such as police violence, political corruption in New York State, African Americans in the prison system, the U.S. legal system in general, and the effects of systemic racism in the U.S. Correspondents include Tom Wicker, Donald Jelinek, and Heather Ann Thompson, as well as N.Y. State officials. Includes a group of 18 audio recordings from November 1975 of Malcolm Bell and Donald Jelinek in conversation one-on-one about the Attica uprising and their involvement at the time. In addition, Bell's papers document his interest in what he saw as related social issues such as corporate corruption and immigrant rights. Acquired as part of the Human Rights Archive at Duke University.
Extent:
10.5 Linear Feet (20 boxes; 1 oversize folder)
Language:
English
Collection ID:
RL.12024

Background

Scope and content:

The collection comprises investigation files, correspondence, legal memoranda, court records and transcripts, drafts and published writings, interviews, many news clippings, subject files, and audiovisual materials, all related to the September 1971 Attica Prison uprising in New York State. The papers, which cover the lifespan of the uprising, its aftermath, and related criminal and civil trials which stretched from 1971 to 2017, were assembled by Malcolm Bell, former prosecuting attorney and whistleblower. Many of the papers are heavily edited or annotated by Bell.

Subjects represented in the papers include: events during the Attica uprising and subsequent legal cases and political repercussions; media coverage of the uprising; police violence at Attica and elsewhere; African Americans in the prison system; the U.S. legal system in general; and the effects of systemic racism in the U.S. Clippings files and other materials document Bell's other interests: whistleblowing in general, the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries, immigrant rights, and peace activism.

The core of the collection consists of Bell's Attica uprising investigative files, dating from 1971 to the 2017, which include copious handwritten notes, statements to officials and the press, articles, correspondence, and related legal memoranda, affidavits, and full trial transcripts. There is also a book about whistleblowers (1975) which is heavily annotated by Bell. The materials document in detail the trajectory of the initial Attica investigation and the subsequent cover-up investigation which began with Bell's resignation from the State of New York's Attica task force in 1974. The 1975 report on the cover-up which Bell wrote after resigning from the task force and sent to N.Y. State Governor Hugh Carey, is also in the collection, in the Writings by Bell series. Related materials include activist newsletters, ephemera related to Attica programs and anniversaries, and materials related to the support group and activist organization, Forgotten Victims of Attica (FVOA). Of interest is a lengthy diary by a currently unidentified prison inmate, detailing events from the uprising.

Although there is a correspondence series which houses incoming and outgoing emails and letters, additional exchanges are found throughout the collection. Correspondents include prison rights activists; Attica uprising victims; New York State justices, investigative officials, and attorneys, including Anthony Simonetti, Don Schecter, and Robert Fischer; American attorneys, authors, and journalists, especially Don Jelinek, Heather Ann Thompson, and Tom Wicker; and Bell's readers and supporters. There are obituaries and other items relating to Attica inmates legal counsel and activist Elizabeth Fink, whose papers are also in the Rubenstein Library, and former Attica inmate Frank "Big Black" Smith, who became a paralegal with Elizabeth Fink's office, and who was an activist leader on behalf of accused Attica inmates and for prisoners' rights.

Other papers include interview transcripts, short pieces of writing by Bell, and materials related to Malcolm Bell's decades-long book project, The Turkey Shoot: Tracking the Attica Cover-up (Grove Press, 1985), and an expanded edition called The Attica Turkey Shoot: Carnage, Cover-up, and the Pursuit of Justice (Skyhorse Publishing, 2017, paperback, 2022). The book project series comprises paper and electronic drafts, handwritten notes, correspondence with publishers, clippings, book publicity, and correspondence with other authors and political journalists writing on Attica, particularly Donald Jelinek, Deanne Miller, Heather Ann Thompson, and Tom Wicker. Correspondents include Tom Wicker, Donald Jelinek, and Heather Ann Thompson, as well as N.Y. State officials.

The collection includes a group of 18 audio recordings from November 1975 of Malcolm Bell and Donald Jelinek in conversation one-on-one about the Attica uprising and their involvement at the time. Other audiovisual items include a documentary video titled Ghosts of Attica and a video of a play by Bell, Let the People Decide. Please note: all original recordings must be reformatted for access.

Biographical / historical:

Biographical note: Malcolm Bell

Malcolm Bell (1931- ) is an American author, attorney, and whistleblower currently based in Vermont. Formerly a corporate attorney in New York City, he was hired in 1973 by the State of New York's Attorney General's Office as a prosecuting attorney on the Organized Crime Task Force investigating the 1971 Attica Prison uprising. After a year on the legal team, Bell recognized that government officials were engaged in a cover-up of criminal acts by law enforcement and state officials. Resigning from the task force in 1974, Bell sent a report to then-Governor Carey in 1975, portions of which became public, and wrote a letter of resignation in protest, printed in the New York Times, which brought to light the injustices of the trial proceedings and potential criminal behavior of officials and attorneys involved in the case.

Bell's whistleblowing resulted in two official investigations and the absolving of nearly everyone for their crimes. It figured prominently in all subsequent trials and other proceedings. He wrote and lectured extensively on the cover-up, publishing a book in 1985, Turkey Shoot: Tracking the Attica Cover-Up, revised in 2017 and published as The Attica Turkey Shoot: Carnage, Cover-Up, and the Pursuit of Justice. He also has written essays, articles, and a play on social issues such as racism, mass incarceration, social inequities, peace activism, and migrant rights.

Historical note: Attica Prison Uprising

The Attica Prison Uprising took place in September 1971 when, after years of tensions over abuses and inequities at the State of N.Y. prison, over 1000 inmates rioted and took over the prison, taking dozens of prison staff hostage. After negotiations and an armed stand-off, State Police, and a few corrections officers carried out a violent assault, killing 29 inmates and 10 hostages; after the massacre, law enforcement abused and tortured the surviving inmates. During the ensuing State Attorney General Office's investigation and beyond, state officials and others destroyed, ignored, suppressed, and manipulated evidence of crimes committed during and shortly after the re-taking of the prison.

As a result of prosecuting attorney Malcolm Bell's resignation letter of protest, published in the New York Times in its entirety, and his report about the conspiracy and cover-up, portions of which were made public, the state launched the Meyer Commission in 1975 and associated hearings and trials, which resulted in pardons for almost all accused inmates, as well as the suspension of prosecutions of officials and law enforcement. Civil suits ensued over the release of investigative records, and for reparations to Attica victims, continuing into the 2000s.

The Attica Uprising is regarded as a watershed moment in the history of prisons and prisoners' rights in the United States, and is seen as a paradigmatic example of the lengths to which officials may go to protect police from answering for their violent crimes. Its fiftieth anniversary occurred in 2021.

Acquisition information:
The Malcolm Bell papers on the Attica Prison Uprising were acquired by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library from Malcolm Bell as a gift in 2022 and 2023.
Processing information:

Processed by Craig Breaden, Matthew Ferrell, Zoe Finiasz, and Paula Jeannet, August 2022.

Additions processed by Paula Jeannet, February 2023, April 2023.

Accessions represented in this collection guide: 2022-0072, 2022-0202, 2023-0078.

Arrangement:

Arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Court Records and Legal Cases; Investigative Notes; Printed Materials; Subject Files; and Writings, Speeches, and Interviews.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Access note. Some materials in this collection are audiovisual formats that need to be reformatted before use. Contact Research Services for access.

Access note. Some materials in this collection are electronic records, in the form of drafts for the book "Turkey Shoot," that require special equipment. Contact Research Services with questions.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Malcolm Bell papers on the Attica Prison Uprising, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1916p