New Video Goes Behind the Scenes of “Captive State” Exhibition and Companion Book
Narrated by Anthony J. Hingle Jr., the piece explores how the project draws irrefutable historical links between slavery and mass incarceration.
In Louisiana, more people are in jail or prison than in any democratic country in the world. How did that happen? In a new video produced in collaboration with filmmaker Crista Rock, HNOC explores Captive State: Louisiana and the Making of Mass Incarceration, a groundbreaking project that investigates the deep links between slavery, Jim Crow, and today’s incarceration system in Louisiana. The project challenges viewers to consider the question, “If you could change Louisiana’s incarceration system, where would you begin?”
Narrated by Anthony J. Hingle Jr., prison reform activist and member of HNOC’s Captive State advisory committee, the video explores the history of mass incarceration in Louisiana and how slavery and prisons are connected in the history of the American South.
The video also explores how the Captive State project came about, including the groundbreaking exhibition at HNOC that closed in February of 2025, and a powerful companion book of the same name that was released on October 1, 2025.
Watch: Does Mass Incarceration Make Us Safer?
TheCaptive State book, like the exhibition,traces the evolution of laws and customs that created this carceral system and that, by design, have disproportionately harmed Black Louisianians. The book accentuates this narrative with profiles of people impacted by these systems, spotlights on key historical objects, and insightful data visualizations. As the human and financial costs continue to mount, Captive State details the choices that led us here—and asks whether Louisiana is fated to remain captive to its history.
The book was created for wide distribution, including for people in jails and prisons across the South, and is now available to purchase from the Shop at the Collection.
Captive State: Louisiana and the Making of Mass Incarceration
softcover • 9" × 11" • 106 pp.
57 color images
ISBN 9780917860942
$19.95
Related Exhibitions
Captive State: Louisiana and the Making of Mass Incarceration
Learn how the institutions of slavery and mass incarceration are historically linked, and how these connections have made Louisiana the world leader in incarceration today.
Related Stories
Inside Angola’s Prison Newspaper, the ‘Angolite’
John Corley, associate editor at Louisiana State Penitentiary, discusses the history and operations of the award-winning periodical.
Processing Hope and Loss in the Prison Portraits of “One Big Self”
Deborah Luster’s portrait series, taken inside prisons across Louisiana, confronts viewers with the human lives at stake in the incarceration capital of the world.
Related Collection Highlights
“Vernon C. Bain” Christening Ceremony Video
When New York City’s war on drugs sent incarceration rates soaring, officials commissioned a floating jail built and christened downriver from New Orleans.
The Mysterious Axman’s Jazz
At the turn of the 20th century, a music-loving serial killer proclaimed that only jazz lovers would be safe from his reign of terror.
Death Notice for John Ward Gurley
One hot-headed young upstart in early 19th-century Louisiana found his way onto the dueling field, where the odds were not in his favor.
Related News
“Captive State” Book: Upcoming Local and Regional Literary Events
WWL-TV: Inside a New Exhibit on Mass Incarceration
Louisiana Weekly: HNOC Receives LEH Award for Louisiana Mass Incarceration Exhibit
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
