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'They Won’t Die Alone': Lori Waselchuk On Documenting Hospice Behind Bars

Documentary photographer Lori Waselchuk
The Historic New Orleans Collection
Documentary photographer Lori Waselchuk

The Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola houses over six thousand men. 80 percent of them will die behind bars. An Angola hospice program trains volunteers from the prison population to care for their dying peers.

From 2007 to 2009, photographer Lori Waselchuk documented the work of these incarcerated caregivers for her series, "Grace Before Dying," which is currently on view in the Historic New Orleans Collection's Captive State exhibition. The HNOC interviewed Waselchuk about the project for their oral history series, NOLA Life Stories.

Joe Shriner is an independent radio producer and audio engineer in New Orleans.
Mark Cave is an oral historian and senior curator at the Historic New Orleans Collection.