In 1868, the state of Georgia began to make its rapidly growing
population of prisoners available for hire. The resulting convict
leasing system ensnared not only men but also African American
women, who were forced to labor in camps and factories to make
profits for private investors. In this vivid work of history,
Talitha L. LeFlouria draws from a rich array of primary sources to
piece together the stories of these women, recounting what they
endured in Georgia's prison system and what their labor
accomplished. LeFlouria argues that African American women's
presence within the convict lease and chain-gang systems of Georgia
helped to modernize the South by creating a new and dynamic set of
skills for black women. At the same time, female inmates struggled
to resist physical and sexual exploitation and to preserve their
human dignity within a hostile climate of terror. This revealing
history redefines the social context of black women's lives and
labor in the New South and allows their stories to be told for the
first time.