Dear Friends of the Sing Sing Prison Museum,
We are pleased with the progress we made in planning and programming and remain focused on beginning construction and completing the first phase of on-site operations. Thanks to your generosity, we had a very successful year, raising more than $400,000 in private donations to support general operations and to match our NEH Challenge.
As you read this review please remember that we operate with an annual budget of less than $300,000! We will grow with your help in the future.
Although we exist as a virtual museum at this time, we continue to receive recognition and support for our mission to tell the story of Sing Sing Prison and to challenge all of us to imagine a more equitable justice system. Here are some highlights of the past year:
These achievements and more are possible only because we have extraordinary support from friends like you. I predict that 2022 will be the best year ever for the Sing Sing Prison Museum. We will finally secure control of the Powerhouse site and begin construction. We will continue raising funds to match the NEH Challenge Grant. We will continue the Justice Talks webinars and tours of the Powerhouse, oral history interviews and collections accessioning. We will continue to be a leader in making the connections between history and contemporary criminal justice issues.
Please consider a gift to the museum and help us move closer to our ambitious goals.
This link will take you to the donation form. THANK YOU!!
As you read this review please remember that we operate with an annual budget of less than $300,000! We will grow with your help in the future.
Although we exist as a virtual museum at this time, we continue to receive recognition and support for our mission to tell the story of Sing Sing Prison and to challenge all of us to imagine a more equitable justice system. Here are some highlights of the past year:
- Accepted as a member of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, a worldwide network of places that connect the past with ongoing issues of justice and equity.
- Joined the Smithsonian Institution’s Made by Us initiative to “inspire, inform and empower” young Americans—Millennials and Gen Z—to preserve and promote our history. Participated in the inaugural Civic Season sponsored by Made by Us.
- Played a leading role in the national Prison Museum Consortium that meets each month to discuss issues concerning preserving and presenting stories of criminal justice.
- Ranked a Priority Project by the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council for our proposal to renovate the former prison Powerhouse.
- Featured in an article in August by the urban affairs journal NextCity and in a webinar sponsored by the journal in November.
- Featured in a webinar sponsored by Untapped Cities an online program promoting New York City history.
- Co-sponsored a webinar with the National Building Museum on the architecture of restorative justice.
- Featured by the River Journal in a RiverTalk podcast in May and in the December issue.
- Produced six Justice Talks webinars on a wide range of topics concerning prison history and contemporary issues. One highlight was a program on the 50th anniversary of the Attica Prison Uprising. All webinars are posted on our website.
- Presented programs for Ossining High School’s criminal justice curriculum.
- Conducted 14 tours for 72 guests.
- Increased engagement across all social media channels including our e-newsletter, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We now have over 6,300 followers and subscribers.
- Appointed Jane Friedman, Elihu Rose and Skye Williamson, as SSPM board members.
- Hired Hallie Ortiz as a Museum Assistant, Julia Nauman as Bookkeeper and Robert Rose and Mimi Pascual as Museum Associates. We met Robert and Mimi when they were Fellows at Columbia University’s Center for Justice.
- Received grants from Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, Humanities NY, Tow Foundation and ArtsWestchester.
- Raised the matching funds required for the first year of the National Endowment for the Humanities Infrastructure and Capacity Building grant.
- Completed a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Assessment which lays the groundwork for governance, staffing and programming.
- Began planning for two exhibits: Art of Returning Citizens, in partnership with Rehabilitation Through the Arts and the history of Sing Sing Prison with Westchester County Historical Society
- Secured $2,880 on Giving Tuesday for the collections program; obtained a secure storage unit, continued oral history interviewing and accessioned over 75 objects including a remarkable collection about the Mutual Welfare League, established in 1914 at Sing Sing Prison by Thomas Mott Osborne
- Presented a pre-recorded lightning talk at the NY Archives Conference and participated in a Mid-Atlantic Alliance of Museums conference.
These achievements and more are possible only because we have extraordinary support from friends like you. I predict that 2022 will be the best year ever for the Sing Sing Prison Museum. We will finally secure control of the Powerhouse site and begin construction. We will continue raising funds to match the NEH Challenge Grant. We will continue the Justice Talks webinars and tours of the Powerhouse, oral history interviews and collections accessioning. We will continue to be a leader in making the connections between history and contemporary criminal justice issues.
Please consider a gift to the museum and help us move closer to our ambitious goals.
This link will take you to the donation form. THANK YOU!!
