The correspondence in the Gillin Papers dates October 1927-June 1949 and primarily deals with matters of criminology or penology. Of special note is a group of letters written by Mr. Gillin in 1928 to his wife while he was on a trip around the world studying prison systems in other countries. Single letters worthy of mention are from John J. Blaine, Clarence Darrow, and J. Edgar Hoover.
In addition to the letters the collection contains articles written by Gillin from his observations of foreign prison systems, a report of sources of information for the study of effects of prohibition, and unpublished manuscripts of Gillin's autobiography and three sociology texts.
By far the greatest part of the collection is, however, the original files of case histories of criminals compiled by Gillin and his assistants at the State Prison at Waupun, Wisconsin, 1930-1935. These files have been left almost as they were used by Gillin in the preparation of his book, The Wisconsin Prisoner. Offenses are arranged alphabetically, ranging from assault and robbery to statutory rape, and offenders are arranged alphabetically by name within each offense. Each offender's file contains long reports on his family, environment before confinement, comparison with a brother if possible, contacts for further information, detailed descriptions of the particular offense, and sometimes, a long autobiography by the prisoner. The autobiographies, when they do appear, are generally very detailed.
