SLIDESHOW: Parchman Family Day

This Father’s Day weekend, we’re celebrating the connection between dads and their loved ones – a bond that can outlast time, distance, and even prison fences.

Last month, Music Maker co-founder and Executive Director Tim Duffy returned to Mississippi State Penitentiary, where we have been working on a groundbreaking project with the newly-revived Parchman Band. Tim’s visit coincided with Parchman’s annual Family Day, a cherished event where incarcerated men, prison staff, and the families of both gather for a picnic with minimal guard presence. The first of its kind in Mississippi, this celebration was the brainchild of superintendent Marc McClure and is now being replicated in other prisons across the state.

Marc and his wife Lee Ann, who heads the Parchman Community & Culture Foundation, describe Family Day as their favorite day of the year, a rare time when fathers can throw a football with sons they haven’t seen grow up.

“It is an event that embodies the spirit of Parchman’s reforms,” says Tim.

There were happy tears, warm hugs, wholesome food – and and, of course, a powerful performance by the Parchman Band, who were joined by country singer Charlie Worsham. During the picnic, Tim offered to take family portraits of the band members (and other inmates) with their loved ones. He also passed out museum-quality plates of the tintypes from his last visit to share with their families.

Check out some highlights from our Parchman Family Day photos in the slideshow below.

From all of us at Music Maker Foundation, happy Father’s Day!