Oral History
Rikers Public Memory Project has begun conducting audio interviews and collecting oral histories of those who have been detained at Rikers, their families, and those who work there. We regularly host story collection days in locations around the city.
To date, we have hosted over 30 oral history collection events that resulted in the collection of 105 oral histories and built public participation through story collections. This involved recruiting and training several volunteers to conduct the interviews in a way that was accountable to those to whom the memory of Rikers belongs. We also partnered with local institutions and organizations that serve currently and formerly incarcerated people, as a means of establishing local connections in neighborhoods that are impacted the most by criminal justice policies.