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Ghosts Over the Boiler
Voices from Alabama's Death Row
by Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty
Edited by Katie Owens-Murphy
From a donated typewriter that frequently breaks down, people on Alabama's death row have literally cut and pasted together a newsletter, On Wings of Hope, for the last three decades to educate the public about the death penalty. This newsletter, a labor of love, documents decades of work, wisdom, activism, and lived experience of those who have been executed, or are scheduled to be executed, by the state of Alabama. The writings also chart the changing policy and practice of capital punishment in the state that sentences more people to death per capita than any other in the US.
Ghosts Over the Boiler is a curated collection of poetry, visual art, photographs, essays, creative writings, and other archival materials that have emerged from Alabama's death row from the organization Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty (PHADP). This group was founded at Holman Correctional Facility and has been operating autonomously since 1989 toward its mission to abolish the death penalty in Alabama and in the nation.
Ghosts Over the Boiler is a curated collection of poetry, visual art, photographs, essays, creative writings, and other archival materials that have emerged from Alabama's death row from the organization Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty (PHADP). This group was founded at Holman Correctional Facility and has been operating autonomously since 1989 toward its mission to abolish the death penalty in Alabama and in the nation.
Introduction
Editor's Note
Interview with PHADP
Part I: Beginnings (1990–2004)
From the Editor's Desk
Killing the Scapegoat Won't Solve the Problem
Will I Be Remembered?
To Remember is to Act!
Thankful Season's Greetings
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
An Execution Feast?
Moratorium Flyer
Prosecuting Children for Murder is Barbaric
Prosecutors Manipulate Victim Families to Hate
Remembrance Day Flyer
Closure: Reality or a Catch Phrase?
Reflections
Paradise
To the Contrary
Feelings from Death Row
Closure
Alabama Death Row Fact Sheet
The Fiscal Distress Caused by Capital Punishment
Will You Hear Me Now?
Now I'm Gone
Homicide? Suicide? Euthanasia? Volunteer
Season's Greetings
Part II: Will You Hear Me Now? (2005–2008)
True Romance
Faulty Logic
Against Time
Reductive Language
Souls, Souls, Souls
Ghosts Over the Boiler
Poll Data
The Killing Machine
Dispute Resolution
Welcome to My World
Change
The Continuing Journey
Thoughts in Time
Nobility's True Badge
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
A Time of Remembrance
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Alabama Alone in Denying National Trend
A Christian Perspective
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Never Fails to Amaze
A Christian Perspective
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
A Christian Perspective
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Death Row Artwork
SEBO
You Have a Right to Know
Season's Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Faith vs. Fear
Part III: The Killing Machine (2009–2010)
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Time in a Box
School vs. Death
A Newcomer's Perspective on Holman's Death Row
Twenty Years of Hope
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Waiting to Exhale
A Christian Perspective
A Blessed Long Journey
Greetings from Editor's Desk
The Kentucky Derby
One Plus One?
It's the Southern Way
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Thanksgiving
My Everyday
From the Editor's Desk
The Prodigal Son
Out to Pasture
The Reason I Joined
An Apology
PHADP vs. VOCAL
Change
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
I Have Fallen
Untitled
Generations
The Six Million Dollar Man
Strength-Maturity-Hope
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
PHADP- On the Inside
Untitled
How I See Tomorrow
Part IV: It's the Southern Way (2011–2015)
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
PHADP on the Inside, Part 2
Stop the Madness
Don't Think About a Zebra!
Mansion of Good and Evil
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
AL vs. USA Executions
Execute Justice Not People!
From the Editor's Desk
The Heart and Soul of Death Row
Season's Greetings!
Untitled
A Friend is Gone but Will Never Be Forgotten
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Doing What You Can
Untitled
A Christian Perspective
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Untitled
Season's Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Historic Event
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
A Christian Perspective
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Season's Greetings
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
PHADP Lost a Good Man
Untitled
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
A Christian Perspective
Untitled
Untitled
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Guerilla Warfare
Alabama Chooses Death
Supreme Ruse: The Botched Ruling
Part V: Botched Rulings and Botched Executions (2016–2020)
From the Editor's Desk
Untitled
Alabama (Un)Just Being Alabama
A Christian Perspective
Win, Lose, or Draw?
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Political Put-away
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Greetings from the Editor's Desk: The U.S. Supreme Court
Judicial Nominee Neil Gorsuch: New Shadow of Death
It Speaks for Itself
Change is Consistent
Lethal Injection: Have We Become the New Guinea Pigs?
Ron Smith as Remembered by Bart Johnson
Rush to Kill: Troubling Way to Die
Do You Remember Where the Line is S'pose to Go?
Life Row
The Arkansas Effect: 8 in 11
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
War Against Hope
Sight to the Blind
Last Words and Testament
Travesty of Justice
Untitled
From the Editor's Desk
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Evolving Standards of Decency
Untitled
A Divided People
Milk to Meat: Choose Meat
From the Editor's Desk
Greetings
Fight or Flight
The Coming, Birth, and Longevity of PHADP
Letter to Alabama Media Group
Surviving Death Row
Christmas Edition
The Man He Killed
Epilogue: Keeping Hope Alive
Thorns of Hope
We Will Continue to Be the Other Voice
Editor's Note
Interview with PHADP
Part I: Beginnings (1990–2004)
From the Editor's Desk
Killing the Scapegoat Won't Solve the Problem
Will I Be Remembered?
To Remember is to Act!
Thankful Season's Greetings
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
An Execution Feast?
Moratorium Flyer
Prosecuting Children for Murder is Barbaric
Prosecutors Manipulate Victim Families to Hate
Remembrance Day Flyer
Closure: Reality or a Catch Phrase?
Reflections
Paradise
To the Contrary
Feelings from Death Row
Closure
Alabama Death Row Fact Sheet
The Fiscal Distress Caused by Capital Punishment
Will You Hear Me Now?
Now I'm Gone
Homicide? Suicide? Euthanasia? Volunteer
Season's Greetings
Part II: Will You Hear Me Now? (2005–2008)
True Romance
Faulty Logic
Against Time
Reductive Language
Souls, Souls, Souls
Ghosts Over the Boiler
Poll Data
The Killing Machine
Dispute Resolution
Welcome to My World
Change
The Continuing Journey
Thoughts in Time
Nobility's True Badge
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
A Time of Remembrance
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Alabama Alone in Denying National Trend
A Christian Perspective
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Never Fails to Amaze
A Christian Perspective
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
A Christian Perspective
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Death Row Artwork
SEBO
You Have a Right to Know
Season's Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Faith vs. Fear
Part III: The Killing Machine (2009–2010)
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Time in a Box
School vs. Death
A Newcomer's Perspective on Holman's Death Row
Twenty Years of Hope
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Waiting to Exhale
A Christian Perspective
A Blessed Long Journey
Greetings from Editor's Desk
The Kentucky Derby
One Plus One?
It's the Southern Way
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Thanksgiving
My Everyday
From the Editor's Desk
The Prodigal Son
Out to Pasture
The Reason I Joined
An Apology
PHADP vs. VOCAL
Change
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
I Have Fallen
Untitled
Generations
The Six Million Dollar Man
Strength-Maturity-Hope
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
PHADP- On the Inside
Untitled
How I See Tomorrow
Part IV: It's the Southern Way (2011–2015)
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
PHADP on the Inside, Part 2
Stop the Madness
Don't Think About a Zebra!
Mansion of Good and Evil
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
AL vs. USA Executions
Execute Justice Not People!
From the Editor's Desk
The Heart and Soul of Death Row
Season's Greetings!
Untitled
A Friend is Gone but Will Never Be Forgotten
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Doing What You Can
Untitled
A Christian Perspective
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Untitled
Season's Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Historic Event
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
A Christian Perspective
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Season's Greetings
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
PHADP Lost a Good Man
Untitled
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
A Christian Perspective
Untitled
Untitled
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Guerilla Warfare
Alabama Chooses Death
Supreme Ruse: The Botched Ruling
Part V: Botched Rulings and Botched Executions (2016–2020)
From the Editor's Desk
Untitled
Alabama (Un)Just Being Alabama
A Christian Perspective
Win, Lose, or Draw?
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Political Put-away
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Greetings from the Editor's Desk: The U.S. Supreme Court
Judicial Nominee Neil Gorsuch: New Shadow of Death
It Speaks for Itself
Change is Consistent
Lethal Injection: Have We Become the New Guinea Pigs?
Ron Smith as Remembered by Bart Johnson
Rush to Kill: Troubling Way to Die
Do You Remember Where the Line is S'pose to Go?
Life Row
The Arkansas Effect: 8 in 11
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
War Against Hope
Sight to the Blind
Last Words and Testament
Travesty of Justice
Untitled
From the Editor's Desk
Greetings from the Editor's Desk
Evolving Standards of Decency
Untitled
A Divided People
Milk to Meat: Choose Meat
From the Editor's Desk
Greetings
Fight or Flight
The Coming, Birth, and Longevity of PHADP
Letter to Alabama Media Group
Surviving Death Row
Christmas Edition
The Man He Killed
Epilogue: Keeping Hope Alive
Thorns of Hope
We Will Continue to Be the Other Voice
Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty is the nation's only 501c3 founded and run by people on death row. They have published the newsletter "On Wings of Hope" for more than thirty years.
Katie Owens-Murphy is an associate professor of English at the University of North Alabama and state coordinator for the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program.
"This most necessary book, Ghost Over the Boiler: Voices from Alabama's Death Row, contextualizes and places into historical context the work the organization Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty has done, and its evolution to expose and bring to the forefront the inhumanity that occurs within taking a life on death row. The amplification of voices from within the carceral state of Alabama in this archive of past writings are at once chilling, and yet—eye-opening. This living document that breathes from the blood of the dead and those soon to be gone, if one reads it carefully, reflects a judicial system that bases its morals or morality at the expense of humans. These human beings are and have been entangled in a carceral state in which checks and balances never favor the convicted, and the pathway to redemption and forgiveness often does not exist. It reminds me of the hypocrisy of change and forgiveness, and how killing a person eliminates any chance of either. Ghosts Over the Boiler may or may not change your position on the death penalty, but it will make you rethink everything you thought you knew in the taking of a life."
—Randall Horton, author of {#289-128}: Poems, winner of the American Book Award
"This collection is one of the most important archives of the modern US death penalty, giving voice to the brilliant and dedicated men on Alabama's death row—to their essays, editorials, and poems; to their interviews, scanned documents, and letters; to their photographs, remembrances, and reflections. Beautifully and faithfully curated by Katie Owens-Murphy, this archive is a glorious tribute to the human spirit."
—Bernard E. Harcourt, author of Critique and Praxis
"[Ghosts Over the Boiler] helps put a human face on capital punishment. This book traces the development of the death penalty abolition movement, the history of Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty, and the evolution of the capital punishment system in Alabama since 1989."
—Andrew Baer, author of Beyond the Usual Beating: The Jon Burge Police Torture Scandal and Social Movements for Police Accountability in Chicago
How does one begin to tell the story of an organization that routinely outlives its members? One of the astonishing features of Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty (PHADP), the nation’s only 501c3 nonprofit generated and operating from death row, has been its longevity. I first came into contact with this group through one of its only surviving veterans: Gary Drinkard, the nation’s ninety-third death row exoneree, whose harrowing account of false conviction and its aftermath is documented in this volume. Though he was exonerated in 2001, Drinkard continues the work he began as a member of PHADP and has been advocating for the abolition of the death penalty for more than twenty years.
Most members of PHADP, however, are executed. Alabama is “unrelenting in the pursuit of the death penalty,” as board member Bart Johnson states in our interview, an insight borne out by the numbers: Alabama leads the nation in the number of people sentenced to death per capita. Executions are doubly macabre for surviving members who experience them as personal foreshadowing as well as personal loss. These events are observed, documented, and mourned through rituals that include vigils inside the prison during which PHADP members wear “pressed whites,” typically reserved for visitation days, along with a purple ribbon—PHADP’s symbol for mourning, which appears in the group’s logo. In a showing of solidarity, the men refrain from sports and activities and circle up to share words of remembrance and grief.
Most members of PHADP, however, are executed. Alabama is “unrelenting in the pursuit of the death penalty,” as board member Bart Johnson states in our interview, an insight borne out by the numbers: Alabama leads the nation in the number of people sentenced to death per capita. Executions are doubly macabre for surviving members who experience them as personal foreshadowing as well as personal loss. These events are observed, documented, and mourned through rituals that include vigils inside the prison during which PHADP members wear “pressed whites,” typically reserved for visitation days, along with a purple ribbon—PHADP’s symbol for mourning, which appears in the group’s logo. In a showing of solidarity, the men refrain from sports and activities and circle up to share words of remembrance and grief.
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