Concord Prison Outreach, Legacy & Impact
Hear from Executive Director Sam Williams, Board Chair Liz Rust, Co-founder Di Clymer, and Volunteer Ed Bond. Produced by Minuteman Media Network.
Concord Prison Outreach Director Sam Williams speaks about the CPO program with a gathering at the West Concord Union Church
A brief talk about the uniqueness of the Concord Prison Outreach program and it’s importance to both the community and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a whole. Sam speaks personally on prison education and reaching a new understanding of self, a new belief in what is possible in one’s life, and a commitment to want to do better both inside and once an individual is home. View Here >
The Educational Justice Institute – Massachusetts Prison Education Consortium
Sam Williams was featured as a guest speaker for The Educational Justice Institute’s meeting on the Massachusetts Prison Education Consortium held on Friday, January 21st, 2022. He was able to share his lived experience as a formerly incarcerated person and how he brings his perspective and vision into the field of prison education. ( Please Note: Sam begins his talk at 42:00 minutes into this program).
Concord Prison Outreach Director Sam Williams discusses Social Justice on November 11, 2021
Transcendentalism Council member Victor Curran introduces Sam Williams’ presentation on social justice in a webinar sponsored by the Transcendentalism Council of First Parish in Concord. View Here >
Concord Prison Outreach 50th Anniversary
From our roots fifty years ago, Concord Prison Outreach has developed into the largest volunteer-driven prison education 501(c)(3) organizanization in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We encourage scores of volunteers to implement numerous educational programs in eight prisons and one jail. Concord Prison Outreach helps hundreds of incarcerated students build better lives for themselves and their families. Film by Justin Dormitzer with special thanks to Sara (Win) Wilbur. View Here >
Concord Prison Outreach – 5 Decades of Promise
Concord Prison Outreach (CPO) is a 501(c)(3) organization composed of a coalition of individuals and faith communities committed to helping people who are incarcerated build better lives for themselves and their families. Since its founding in 1968, when its first volunteers helped to support people in a local prison infirmary, CPO has developed into the largest organization of its kind in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
CPO works cooperatively with the Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC), offering educational programs that focus on skill-building and personal growth, essentials to help support people in prison to achieve success while incarcerated or post-incarceration. Hundreds of individuals and nearly forty faith communities join CPO in its mission to offer high-quality, transformative programs that focus on education, personal growth, and increased opportunity for incarcerated people and their families. View Here >
Local Interest in the Concord Prison Cemetery
“If you have spent some time on the West Concord section of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, you may have noticed a small cemetery near Commonwealth Avenue. Burials took place here soon after MCI-Concord (then Concord Reformatory) was built in 1878. Marked with numbers rather than names, plots are the final resting place for men who died in Concord Reformatory and were not buried by their families. Also buried here were some men from Charlestown Jail and the Rutland Prison Camp. Internet research has provided names to match some of the numbered graves. There has been some discussion among interested local citizens to erect an informational and/or commemorative plaque, now that the rail trail brings more foot and pedal traffic through this area.”
