Portsmouth Naval Prison
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Portsmouth Naval Prison is a former U.S. Navy and Marine Corps prison on the grounds of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. Occupied during 1908–1974, its reinforced concrete building res
The former prison as seen in 2013
Prison from across river, c. 1913
Victor Folke Nelson
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Victor Folke Nelson was a Swedish-American writer, prisoner, and prison reform advocate. He spent many years incarcerated in both the New York and Massachusetts prison systems and came to the attentio
Portsmouth Naval Prison
…in the prison to see what changes needed to be made, including living conditions. During World War I, the prison housed wartime convicts—among them Victor Folke Nelson—reaching a maximum of 2,295 in 1918. By 1921 President Warren G. Harding had appointed a new Secretary of the Navy, who promptly ended Osborne's Mutual…
Cover of Prison Days and Nights by Victor Folke Nelson
Title page of Victor Folke Nelson's Prison Days and Nights
Inscription to Donald Moreland from Victor Folke Nelson in a copy of Prison Days and Nights. Book held by Harvard Houghton Library Offsite Storage, No. 2025-381
Inscription to George Steele from Victor Folke Nelson in a copy of Prison Days and Nights. Book held by Harvard Houghton Library Offsite Storage, No. 2025-382