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In Deeds and Words: Sr. Helen Prejean's Ministry Against the Death Penalty

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In Deeds and Words: Sr. Helen Prejean's Ministry Against the Death Penalty examines the ministry of Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, well known for her work to abolish the death penalty in the United States, and especially for her book, Dead Man Walking.

Sr. Helen Prejean donated her papers to DePaul University's Special Collections and Archives Department in December 2010, following conversations begun by Susanne Dumbleton of DePaul's School for New Learning. Dumbleton interviewed Sr. Helen in 2009 for a book about women leaders in social justice movements, and raised the issue then of a possible donation. Sr. Helen's previous connections to DePaul University include an honorary degree, and work with the Center for Justice in Capital Cases (CJCC), headed by the College of Law's Andrea Lyon, one of the nation's leading death penalty attorneys.

The original letters, photographs, artifacts selected for this exhibit are from the Sr. Helen Prejean Papers and were on display in DePaul's Special Collections and Archives Department from May 2012 through January 2013.  The archives collection has enormous depth, not only for the issue of the death penalty, but also in the development of Sr. Helen's activism, the process of writing and publishing a book, and the overlapping social justice issues which examination of the death penalty unmasks.

The Sr. Helen Prejean Papers are available for research use in DePaul's Special Collections and Archives Department Reading Room.  For more information about the collection, please email archives@depaul.edu or visit the department.