Irvin Moore

Irvin Moore in his home in State College, PA

Irvin Moore, a 79-year-old man from Philadelphia who spent more than fifty years incarcerated, reflects on his early life, his path into the criminal justice system, and his time at Holmesburg Prison where he was exposed to medical experiments conducted by the University of Pennsylvania and other entities. He explains how prisoners viewed the tests as economic survival in a system where money controlled safety and opportunity, and describes the informal inmate networks that recruited participants for studies run by Kligman, the Army, and Penn. Moore talks about witnessing side effects among others, the power dynamics that made prisoners trust authority figures, and how none of them understood the risks at the time. Later in life he became a respected inmate-leader, building educational programs, mentoring others, and maintaining long-term relationships with Penn State professors who eventually helped him transition into college after his commutation. The interview also covers his emotional release from prison, his bond with the therapy dog Fred, and his belief that apologies from Philadelphia and Penn are meaningless without education, public acknowledgment, and concrete reparations for survivors and their families.

Dorothy Alston

In her interview, 89-year-old Dorothy Alston reflects on her life from childhood in Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion neighborhood through decades marked by poverty, addiction, incarceration, and medical exploitation. She describes a happy youth that unraveled after early arrests for shoplifting and the death of her teenage son, which led her into heroin use and repeated jail sentences. While imprisoned at the House of Correction, Alston participated in several paid experiments overseen by Dr. Albert Kligman and the University of Pennsylvania, including a “tampon test” that caused permanent internal injury and forced her to undergo a hysterectomy. She recounts the physical pain, humiliation, and loss of her marriage that followed, condemns Kligman as “evil,” and expresses anger that he profited from the research while survivors were ignored. The conversation ranges from her memories of Philadelphia and her family to the brutal conditions of prison life, her humor and resilience, and her continuing demand for an apology and acknowledgment from the institutions responsible.

On May 19, 2026, Dorothy Alston passed away at the age of 90. She was the last confirmed female survivor of The University of Pennsylvania’s prison experimentation program.

Herbert Rice

Survivor

Interview: 2 Hours, 2 Cameras

Herbert Rice Pauses for a Moment in Front of Holmesburg Prison

In his interview, Herbert Rice, age 78, recounts his experience as a prisoner at Holmesburg Prison from 1968 to 1969, where he participated in numerous medical experiments run by the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Albert Kligman. He describes how he transferred to “H Block,” known as the “money block,” where most of the testing occurred and inmates joined studies to earn small payments. His tests included a “milkshake study” to monitor weight, multiple skin injection trials that caused blistering, and a “metabolic test” involving pills and radiation exposure that he believes caused lifelong physical and psychological damage. Herbert details time spent in solitary confinement, his descent into addiction and mental illness after release, and decades of nightmares and trauma tied to the experiments. He connects the abuses at Holmesburg to broader exploitation, comparing them to the case of Henrietta Lacks and even the Holocaust. Despite years of suffering, institutionalization, and family loss, he found stability through recovery programs and advocacy with the Jones Foundation, helping push for reparations and public acknowledgment. Throughout the conversation, Herbert expresses deep distrust of doctors, lingering anger toward Kligman and Penn, and a commitment to sharing his story to honor those who can no longer speak for themselves.

Darlene Rice

Former Spouse of Herb Rice

Interview: 1 Hour, 2 Cameras

Darlene from our interview in August 2025

Darlene Rice recounts her life beginning with a loving childhood in South Philadelphia, early motherhood, and years of hard work to support her children, followed by a long and difficult chapter in her relationship with her former husband, Herbert Rice. She describes how his time in jail and untreated struggles afterward changed him from the kind, gifted young man she once knew into someone whose presence became frightening and disruptive to her and their children's lives. Despite support from police, family, community members, and local organizations, this difficult period lasted roughly two decades and left lasting emotional scars. She also recalls strained friendships, frightening encounters involving her children, and several moments she feared for her family's safety. In her later reflections, she notes that her children still care for their father today, and she has never spoken ill of him to them, but she describes that era as twenty difficult years that she made it through with resilience, family support, and the will to protect her kids.

Adrianne Jones-Alston

Descendant

Interview: 2 Hours, 3 Cameras

Adrianne Jones-Alston recounts her father’s experience at home after his incarceration in Holmesburg

Adrianne Jones-Alston, founder of the Jones Foundation for Returning Citizens and daughter of Holmesburg survivor Leotis Jones, provides one of the film’s strongest perspectives on the intergenerational impact of the Holmesburg Prison experiments. She remembers her father as a loving, hardworking provider before his incarceration, but recalls a profound change after his return from Holmesburg, including physical scarring, emotional instability, and escalating conflict at home. Adrianne describes how the trauma experienced by her father rippled through the family, forcing her into adult responsibilities at a young age and contributing to years of instability, addiction, incarceration, and recovery in her own life. Although Leotis rarely discussed the experiments directly with his children, he later became an outspoken advocate for survivors and prisoner rights. Through her personal story, Adrianne connects the abuses at Holmesburg to broader questions of medical ethics, informed consent, institutional accountability, and the lasting consequences of trauma across generations, arguing that the effects of the experiments did not end with the men who were tested but continue to shape their families and communities today.

Allen Hornblum

Expert

Interview: 2 Hours, 2 Cameras

LaVon Miller from our interview in August 2025

Allen Hornblum, author of Acres of Skin, recounts entering Holmesburg Prison in 1971 as an educator and immediately recognizing the facility as a chaotic, violent, overcrowded institution where scores of inmates walked around covered in medical tape. He describes discovering that the prison had become a vast human experimentation center run for decades by University of Pennsylvania dermatologist Dr. Albert Kligman, who used incarcerated men for hundreds of studies ranging from simple patch tests to dangerous trials involving dioxin, psychotropic drugs, chemical warfare agents, and radioactive materials. Hornblum outlines how Kligman courted pharmaceutical companies, the Army, and corporate clients, escalating experiments without oversight and exploiting poor Black prisoners who participated out of financial desperation. He explains the origins of the retinoid drugs Retin-A and Renova in these experiments, the massive profits generated, and the longstanding lack of accountability. The interview also covers public reaction to Acres of Skin, Penn’s 2020 apology following racial justice movements, the push for reparations, and Hornblum’s belief that the legacy of Holmesburg demands both material compensation for survivors and a reckoning within American medical ethics.

Allen’s 1999 book, Acres of Skin, first broke the story of the Holmesburg Prison Experiments to the public.

Lavon Miller

Survivor

Interview: 1 Hour, 2 Cameras

LaVon Miller from our interview in August 2025

LaVon Miller, age 76, reflects on growing up between Philadelphia and the South, finding belonging in neighborhood gangs, and entering the justice system as a teenager. He describes life at Holmesburg Prison in the late 1960s, where poverty and survival pressures pushed inmates toward medical experiments run by outside researchers. LaVon recounts taking pill studies, patch tests, and other trials that left him hospitalized and dealing with lifelong health issues, while emphasizing that inmates had no real understanding of what the substances were or what risks they carried. He explains how his father, who worked on H-Block, tried to protect him from the system’s worst harms, and how family reputation helped keep him safe inside. Later, LaVon’s cousin Howard joins the interview, describing how their family’s history in West Philadelphia shaped them, how he avoided the experiments because LaVon and their uncle warned him off, and how inmates saw testing as a way to get food, cigarettes, and basic survival items. Together they detail the violence, fear, overcrowding, and mental illness inside Holmesburg, and they describe the experiments as exploitation of poor men who trusted the state. LaVon expresses frustration that the city’s apology came without material help, calls for medical care and support for survivors, and anchors his survival in faith, resilience, and family loyalty.