Sugar Land 95 Exhibit

Client: Fort Bend ISD

What began as routine construction on a new facility for Fort Bend ISD, outside Houston, quickly became a much bigger — and ultimately much darker — story involving national headlines, federal agencies, and statewide legislation. Numerous human remains unearthed on the property would be identified as 95 inmates sentenced to the state’s cruel convict leasing program in the post-slavery era.

As part of a wider effort by FBISD to involve and educate its community on this issue, and honor the lives of these 95 individuals, I was contracted to help design a mobile exhibit and study guide for schools throughout the school district. I also designed a summary document made available to the public, including information about the discovery, exhumation, history of convict leasing, memorial plans, and details on the life and death of each of the 95 individuals.

This remains one of the most enlightening, impactful, and gutting projects I’ve ever worked on. One of the biggest challenges was taking such a copious amount of information and identifying the narrative — using graphic elements, historical photos, and pull quotes to bring the story to life. And ensuring the exhibit materials were age-appropriate for elementary through high school students.

Having access to such comprehensive research — including scanned copies of handwritten documents from prison officials detailing ages, marital status, convicting offenses, punishments during imprisonment — allowed me to identify themes in the data that illuminated the horrific treatment convicts endured by the state. Like more than half of the 95 dying within a year of arrival, despite a median 5-year sentence.

I’d encourage you to take time to learn more about the Sugar Land 95.

2020-2021   //   Adobe Illustrator + InDesign + Photoshop