- Owned by
- Wallace, Herman, American, 1941 - 2013
- Manufactured by
- Unidentified
- Subject of
- Keefe Group, LLC, American
- Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, American, founded 1835
- Date
- after 1972
- Medium
- plastic
- Caption
- Wallace was an avid chess player. The collection includes homemade and mass produced chess boards and pieces. He wrote that he saw the game as a powerful humanizing force which helped him and fellow inmates use their minds towards a positive and productive pursuit. Wallace used the game to strategically inspire camaraderie, eliminate violence, and establish a network of empowerment, entirely lacking in an environment purposefully inhumane and hopeless. The repurposed rice bag as storage shows Wallace's creative remaking and adjustment of the items available to him.
- Description
- A plastic rice bag repurposed to hold chess pieces by Herman Wallace while incarcerated at Angola Prison. The bag is a blue, resealable, plastic Keefe Kitchens Quality Products bag and holds a set of 17 white chess pieces and 17 black chess pieces. On the front of the bag in large yellow and white text is: [ENRICHED / PRE-COOKED / LONG GRAIN / RICE / READY IN 5 MINUTES / NO BOILING REQUIRED / NET WT. 8OZ (228G)]. On the reverse of the bag are nutrition facts.
- Place used
- Angola, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, United States, North and Central America
- Collection title
- Herman Wallace Archival Collection
- Classification
- Toys and Games
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Maria Hinds
- Object number
- A2018.36.1.13.5
- Restrictions & Rights
- No Known Copyright Restrictions
- Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




