Announcements

Last Statement, a continuing silverprint study of the families of the victims and the executed, by photographer Barbara Sloan. Read more.

4th annual Old Timers Reunion - The Texas Prison Museum will be hosting a get together for retired prison employees. Saturday, October 10, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. At the Texas Prison Museum conference room. Food and drinks provided at no charge. Retired employees and spouses welcome.

Special Events

Panel of Capital Punishment Experts to Commemorate 25th Anniversary of Lethal Injection in the US with December 7th Forum and Exhibit

Texas Death Row author Bill Crawford to moderate discussion among trio of panelists who have witnessed numerous executions

To mark the 25th anniversary of lethal injection in the United States, and to help shed light on an issue up for Supreme Court review in early 2008, Bill Crawford (the Austin-based author of Texas Death Row: Executions in the Modern Era) will moderate a panel discussion on Friday, December 7, at the Texas Prison Museum in Huntsville, Texas, titled "25 Years of Lethal Injection: What Have We Learned?"

The featured panelists include reporter Michael Gracyzk, who has viewed over 300 executions during his career as a journalist; former Public Information Manager with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Larry Fitzgerald, who has witnessed over 200 executions; Texas State Prison Museum director (and former warden of the Walls Unit) Jim Willett, who witnessed 89 executions; and Paula Kurland, a victims’ rights advocate who served on the Death Penalty Initiative with the Constitution Project in Washington, D.C.

"Since recordings of executions aren’t maintained, the memories of those who have witnessed executions are critical to understanding lethal injections," said Crawford. "In only a few months, the Supreme Court will determine whether lethal injection violates the Constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment. Though the panel is timed to coincide with the first lethal injection 25 years ago, it’s also coming at a time in which Americans are increasingly aware of the controversy surrounding this method of execution."

The panel discussion event in Huntsville is part of an exhibit at the Texas Prison Museum entitled "Texas Death Row: Executions in the Modern Era," which will be on display at the Texas Prison Museum throughout the month of December. Conceived by Crawford as a nonpartisan way to help people better understand the issue of the death penalty, the exhibit is funded in part by Humanities Texas. The Ann Arbor News called the exhibit "a display of inadvertent photojournalism whose overwhelming impact haunts the imagination – and once seen, it’s likely to never be forgotten."  

The panel will be recorded, and Crawford plans a public release of the findings upon conclusion of the panel. 

The event is set to begin at 6:30pm, Friday, December 7 in the museum conference room.  

Any questions concerning the event or the display can be directed to the Texas Prison Museum at 936-295-2155, Monday through Friday, or by email at tpmuseum@sbcglobal.net