Goree Christmas Pageant (1968)

This news segment for Houston’s KPRC-TV captures a dress rehearsal for a Christmas pageant performed by inmates of the Goree State Farm for Women. The actors first get into character through hair and makeup, with some even applying false beards. Following a choral performance, a group of women stage the nativity scene. Portions of the footage appear silent, and would have been voiced over by the anchorperson during a live broadcast. Goree operated as a women’s prison from its opening in 1911 until 1982, when it was converted into a men’s prison. It is now known as the Thomas Goree Unit.