Collections : [National Death Penalty Archive]

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 public opinion polls, event advertisements, information on related organizations (including student organizations), letters to legislators from citizens, fact sheets and other research.

This series includes documents related to Bill Babbitt's campaign to end the death penalty and media coverage about Manny Babbitt's case. Correspondence, speeches, documents from the organizations Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation and Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, pamphlets from various conferences, records of Bill's travels to advocate against capital punishment, background information and data on capital punishment, and a printed tribute to Manny Babbitt comprise this series. There also is substantials news coverage about Manny and Bill Babbitt in print, audio, and video formats.

This series contains correspondence organized alphabetically by type (sent/received) and by year within each folder. A folder containing character references is noteworthy. These character references were written between late June and early August of 1981, around the time of Ford's parole hearings and clemency case. They are written by his mother, brother, teachers, and friends of the family who knew Ford all of his life. They testify that Ford was a normal, above-average individual who none believed was bent toward murder. Of particular significance is a letter from one of Ford's teachers, Richard Curtis, who said Ford was a model teenager even winning an award for a science project. Correspondence received by Ford are mostly carbon copies retained by Wollan of letters he had sent to Ford. Letters sent by Ford are not represented in this series since they are located within a set of legal papers used in a trial to prove Ford's sanity. They are located in Series One in the folder, Proceedings to Determine Sanity. The General Correspondence folder contains letters that list Laurin Wollan as the recipient of carbon copies, but are not addressed to or from Wollan. Correspondence received by Wollan are usually letters from fellow lawyers and the folders of correspondence sent are carbon copies retained by Wollan that he sent to various individuals.

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.

This series features files organized by state that relate to groups focused on abolishing the death penalty. In addition to the state groups, there are some Puerto Rican, U.S. national, and Canadian organizations included. Correspondence from the Lighting the Torch of Consciousness initiative, including some with Bob Gross, is significant within this series.

Ingle kept material documenting his interaction with the inmates he and his colleagues were trying to help. Some case files fit into one or two folders, but other high-profile cases (eg. Willie Darden, Timothy Baldwin) fill multiple folders and are divided into categories like correspondence and legal documents. Most files contain correspondence between inmates and Joe Ingle as well as letters to the inmates from family, friends, and sometimes members of the public. Copies of legal paperwork, especially affidavits, are often included. The case files of John Spenkelink, Willie Darden, and James Hill include photographs.

This series includes the reports from each hearing day, published by the New York Assembly Standing Committee on Codes, Assembly Standing Committee on Judiciary, and Assembly Standing Committee on Correction. The final reports, compiled from the proceedings of all five days of testimony, are also included. The series also includes two amicus briefs, People v. McCoy and People v. Cahill, filed by Stewart F. Hancock. An amicus brief, a brief filed by "a friend of the court," is filed to advise the court in its consideration of the case. Hancock is a retired Justice of the New York State Court of Appeals and was asked by the group People Against the Death Penalty, Central New York, to file an amicus brief for consideration by the New York Court of Appeals using the cases of the People v. Cahill and People v. McCoy to demonstrate support for commuting death sentences to life without parole.

This series contains legal material, notes, research files, and correspondence related to the trials of Davidson James.

This series contains published materials owned or sent to Bill Pelke. This series contains mostly newspaper, magazine, and journal articles related to the death penalty or Bill Pelke himself. Not included are materials created by activist groups such as newsletters, reports, and other such publications.