Cartographies of Struggle: A Geographic Story of Convict-Leased Black Women in the American South

• In Event: Prison Legacies from the Past & Present

Abstract

The American convict leasing system was one of involuntary unpaid servitude and forced penal labor practiced primarily by Southern states in the 1840s and became more prevalent in the 1870s through 1928. Prisoners were leased to railway companies, road contractors, plantations, lumber and brick yards, manufacturers, factories, and mining companies. Often conditions included abuse and maltreatment of the prisoners. Convict leasing was lucrative for states and companies, which entrenched the practice. Women prisoners, often Black women, were not exempt from this practice and worked under the same conditions and jobs as men.

The study focuses on Black women convict lessees in three Southern states: Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Spatial analysis, through mapping and the creation of a story map, is used to visually track the stories of these women. Data were derived from archival research, historical newspapers, and secondary data sources. This study analyzes the locations of where women were leased, the types of offenses, sentence lengths, and the connections to place. Women faced geographic isolation between their conviction location and where they were placed for their sentence. The story map overall reveals challenges faced by Black women in convict camps and the industrialized goals of the state.

Authors

• Hannah Ridner, Indiana University

• Bonnie Ernst, Indiana University

• Carmen Diaz, Indiana University Bloomington