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This series contains the research material that Ford's defense team accumulated over the course of their representation of Ford and includes research material from years prior to and after the case. This series contains notes on cases in progress as well as some material from related cases. There are newsletters, briefings, pamphlets, bulletins, essays, reports, and publications which discuss anti-death penalty and related legal issues. Also included are photocopies of selections from various undated publications about the death penalty. This series represents literature from a wide spectrum of death penalty abolitionists. Several folders contain news clippings organized by year that give a good overview of related death penalty cases and issues. Many of the news clippings were photocopied before deposit in the Department of Special Collections and Archives, while others required preservation photocopying. Also of note are several papers on death penalty issues written by professors and others representing law schools and universities in the United States.

This series contains newspaper and magazine articles, most of which are photocopied, about the Ford case. This series also contains a folder related to Ford's death and funeral. Also represented are a small collection of photographs of Ford at various ages and photographs of his attorneys. There is a short note from Connie Ford, Alvin's mother, to Attorney Wollan concerning a video of the Ford funeral, which is also contained in this collection. The most important resource in this series is the news clippings, which are very helpful in following the progression of the Ford case. The news clippings cover most major events in the Ford case. In addition to collecting news clippings, Laurin Wollan had an assistant visit Gainesville, Florida, where Ford was apprehended, and the assistant photocopied all articles from area papers that reported on the Ford story from 1974 to 1975.