A new PBS documentary series premiering Monday, Nov. 16 on WXXI-TV features the story of a Rochester native.
“Crime and Punishment in America” is a four-part series examining criminal justice in America from the colonial era to today.
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Austin Reed was a Black man who was born free in Rochester in 1823. But his freedom would not last long. After his father died when he was a young child, Reed became an indentured servant and was later sent to the House of Refuge in New York City.
“Which was essentially a prison for children with a bit of schooling,” said Lynn Novick, producer and director of the film series.
Reed eventually returned to Rochester and was in and out of prison for 20 years.
His memoir, “The Adventures of a Haunted Convict,” documents his experiences with violence and torture as an incarcerated person in his youth and at Auburn Prison in upstate New York.
“He’s really wrestling with what is prison for? Why are we torturing people? How do we reckon with the things we’ve done wrong in this moment and in these kind of places?” Novick said.
“Crime and Punishment in America” will air on WXXI-TV at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. beginning Monday and running through Thursday. The entire series will re-air on from 3 to 11 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 21.
Reed’s memoir was discovered at a Rochester estate sale in 2009 and published by Random House/Yale University Press. Follow the link below to listen to an interview on that discovery with Caleb Smith, professor of English at Yale.
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