Person    | Male  Born 13/10/1941  Died 4/10/2013

Herman Wallace

Categories: Law, Race Issues, Tragedy

Countries: USA

In 1972 a prison guard was murdered in Angola Prison, Louisiana, USA, where Herman Wallace, Robert King, and Albert Woodfox were prisoners.  Wallace and Woodfox were convicted of the murder; King was said to be connected to the murder but was not charged.  King was convicted of a separate prison murder in 1973. All three were placed in solitary confinement and were forgotten until 1997 when a law student began investigating their case.  King was released after 29 years in solitary confinement.  Apart from a brief spell in 2008 in a maximum security dormitory, Wallace and Woodfox have been in solitary confinement since 1972.  The story is more complicated than this brief summary and it continues. The three men are known as "The Angola 3” and "Who is Herman Wallace" is/was the publicity campaign.

Herman Wallace was born in New Orleans but has spent most of his life in (a very small bit of) Angola Prison.

King was released in 2001.

Update 2013: Wallace had been diagnosed with cancer and was in a prison hospital.  On 1 October 2013 his conviction was overturned and he was released.  He died 3 days later.

Update 2016: A federal court ordered the immediate release of Woodfox but the legal wranglings continued until he was finally released in 2016.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Herman Wallace

Commemorated ati

Herman Wallace

This tile is about 4" square. It has been guerrilla-stuck to the wall just a...

Read More

Mosaic House, back - Angola Three

Angola Three: Herman Wallace, Albert Woodfox, King Wilkerson

Read More

Mosaic House, front - Herman Wallace

Herman Wallace, 1941 - 2013

Read More

Other Subjects

Hackney parish watch house

Hackney parish watch house

A watch house was an early form of police station and prison. Criminals were held here temporarily.

Place, Law

1 memorial
Tothill Fields Prison

Tothill Fields Prison

Also known as Tothill Fields Bridewell, Westminster Bridewell and the Westminster House of Correction. It was one of the less severe places of incarceration, as one of the main punishments was not ...

Place, Law

2 memorials
The Honourable Conrad Adderly Dillon

The Honourable Conrad Adderly Dillon

Connected with the Chelsea Temperance Society for 21 years, he was actively engaged in the national temperance organizations and in the development of the “Royal Army Temperance Association” of whi...

Person, Law, Politics & Administration, Social Welfare

1 memorial
Thomas Godfrey Baynes

Thomas Godfrey Baynes

Clerk to Bexley Urban District Council. Thomas Godfrey Baynes was born on 15 August 1865 in Milton, Kent. He was the second of the six children of Thomas Clarke Baynes (1836-1903) and Elizabeth Su...

Person, Law, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Ruy Barbosa

Ruy Barbosa

Born Ruy Barbosa D'Oliveira in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. A defender of civil liberties, he fought for the abolition of slavery in Brazil. He fled to London after being accused of being a conspirat...

Person, Journalism / Publishing, Law, Politics & Administration, Race Issues, Brazil

1 memorial