Angola guard tower donated to Smithsonian

Angola, La.- A piece of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola will soon be on its way to the Smithsonian Museum.

Workers will begin dismantling a prison guard tower on July 8 for transport to the museum. It will take a place in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.  The penitentiary donated the guard tower to the museum.

The 20-foot surveillance tower was built between the 1930's and 1940's.

Museum officials say it will help the museum explore the "complex history of African American oppression and incarceration in the United States."

Angola is one of the largest maximum security prisons in the United States.