Join us for our next Created Equal program “The Role of Convict Labor in the Industrial Development of Birmingham, Alabama” tomorrow Thursday, February 12 at 12:00 noon at the Columbus Public Library.
Curator Karen Utz will discuss the story of Alabama’s convict leasing system, in effect from 1866 to 1928 (last state to outlaw this horrific system). Robert Patton, Alabama governor in 1865, declared that the state’s felons, rather than being housed in the penitentiary, should be “leased.”
This presentation will focus on early state and local laws enacted by Alabama politicians
to justify their use of convict labor. Attention will also be paid to the horrendous working conditions, as well as to similarities between the institution of slavery and the convict leasing system. Copies of documents, contracts and photographs add to the overall significance of the lecture.
Utz will also be showing clips from the film “Slavery by Another Name”.
Karen Utz is the Curator at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark and an adjunct history instructor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Sponsors include the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Gilder Lehrman Institute, and the Mississippi Humanities Council.
Local partners include the Rosenzweig Arts Center, the R. E. Hunt Museum & Cultural Center, and Mississippi University for Women.
This event is free and open to the public. Snacks will be provided.
For more information about the Created Equal series call 662-329-5300.
"Created Equal: America's Civil Rights Struggle" in Columbus, Mississippi 