My experiences in the military during the Vietnam War sharpened my awareness of injustice. I have been following incarceration issues since 1972 when I became a KDOC Probation and Parole Officer in Louisville. I worked for the Kentucky Department of Corrections for 16 years. From 1981 to 1988 I was a Staff Training Officer for state prison and county jail staff all over Kentucky. During those years, I researched and collected the prison history of Kentucky. The employees in my classes enjoyed hearing my history stories and they became a network for finding historical resources. I have become the unofficial state prison historian. I work with a small group of retired prison system employees. We remember what real casework, treatment, education and community resources looked like before the incarcerated population overwhelmed us. Our goal is to educate the public in ways that make long lasting reform possible.