https://archive.engl.sites.carleton.edu/files/original/cb9d41c9e21dcee308d45c1cb9422855.png 9ef45fd4759409c3979ec458d005db65 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Yoon How Archives Shape Perceptions of Women's Labor Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jonah Yoon Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Transcription: CHAIN GANGS OF GEORGIA A Shameful State of Affairs Which the Legislature Is Called Upon to Remedy. Governor Atkinson sent a special message to the legislature last Tuesday on the subject of misdemeanor convicts. Reports reached the Governor touching the management of the convicts that indicated such a state of affairs that he felt it his duty to investigate and place the facts before the legislature. To perform this important work the Governor appointed Hon. R. F. Wright, a man of unquestioned integrity and ability. Mr. Wright’s report to the Governor was laid before the legislature and remedial legislation asked for. The report of Mr. Wright reveals a state of affairs that is a burning disgrace to the State of Georgia. He has visited thirty-three camps. The total number of convicts imprisoned in these gangs is 795, of which there are 27 white males, no females, 749 colored males and 19 colored females. The average length of sentence is nine months. Average number of hours worked per day, ten. These convicts are employed in farming, saw milling, brick making, turpentine farms, and a few on public roads. Where convicts are hired to private individuals, the hire averages about $5 per month. “Generally the whites and blacks are not chained together, nor are the males and females, but they are worked together indiscriminately, and in many of the gangs practically no provision is made for a separation of races or sexes during the day, or at night in sleeping quarters. There are among this number many convicts still under their majority, and I found eleven under the age of fourteen. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper (printed on newsprint) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Chain Gangs of Georgia: A Shameful State of Affairs Which the Legislature is Called Upon to Remedy. Subject The topic of the resource Carceral labor Newspaper article Race and labor Gender and labor Archival framing Institutional power Archival silence Representation and bias Late 19th century Post Reconstruction era Georgia United States, South Convict camps in Georgia Description An account of the resource This newspaper article in the Union Recorder (Milledgeville, GA), published in November of 1895, reports on Governor Atkinson's 1895 investigation into Georgia's chain gang system. The report describes 33 convict camps holding 795 people, including both Black and White prisoners and multiple women and girls, some under 14. The article lists daily labor assignments such as farming, sawmilling, brickmaking, turpentine work, and road construction. It notes that prisoners often worked ten hours per day and that racial and gender segregation was rarely enforced in work or sleeping quarters. Although the article frames these conditions as an administrative failure requiring legislative reform, it documents the routine exploitation of forced labor under the misdemeanor convict system.<br /><br /><strong>Interpretation Note</strong><br />The article presents the chain gang system as an administrative shortcoming rather than as a moral or racial catastrophe, one that can be tidied up with the right legislation. In doing so, it shows how institutional language can blunt the edges of violence and turn brutality into a mere "affair to remedy." The recitation of prisoners' ages, races, and daily tasks tacitly normalizes forced labor and sidesteps the systematic exploitation of Black men, women, and children. The casual mention that women and girls worked the same grueling jobs as men, such as ten hours of brickmaking or road building, while still being expected to cook and clean for the camp, reflects how deeply race and gender dictated the distribution and meaning of labor in these spaces. Following Marlene Manoff's thinking, the article is both a historical object and a product of an archival logic that prefers bureaucratic categories over lived human experience. When read alongside Tonia Sutherland and Zakiya Collier's work on Black archival practices, it becomes clear that records of Black labor were almost always shaped by the state's need to legitimize punishment and control. Drawing on Saidiya Hartman, the archive is shaped by the people who exercised violence, not by those who endured it. What remains are documents produced by captors and officials, which means the record is built from a perspective of power rather than from the lives of those who were exploited. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Union Recorder (Milledgeville, Georgia) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Georgia Historic Newspapers Georgia Newspaper Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Digital Library of Georgia Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1895-11-19 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgia Newspaper Project Digital Library of Georgia Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/</a> No Copyright, United States. Relation A related resource DLG Record: <a href="https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_miln_uar1895-0365">https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_miln_uar1895-0365</a> Partner-site URL: <a href="https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053811/1895-11-19/ed-1/seq-1/print/image_583x817_from_1780,406_to_3472,2776/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053811/1895-11-19/ed-1/seq-1/print/image_583x817_from_1780,406_to_3472,2776/</a> Included in the Georgia Exhibits "Convict Labor" feature: <a href="https://georgia-exhibits.galileo.usg.edu/spotlight/convict-labor/feature/women-in-convict-camps">https://georgia-exhibits.galileo.usg.edu/spotlight/convict-labor/feature/women-in-convict-camps</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Digitized newspaper article JPEG image Newspaper Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Still Image Newspaper article Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DLG Identifier: dlg_miln_uar1895-0365 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Georgia, United States Baldwin County Milledgeville Coordinates: 33.08014, -83.2321 Alternative Title An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific. Male and Female Prisoners Worked Indiscriminately on Chain Gangs (reported in Union Recorder, 1895) Extent The size or duration of the resource. One digitized newspaper page Medium The material or physical carrier of the resource. Newspaper Bibliographic Citation A bibliographic reference for the resource. Recommended practice is to include sufficient bibliographic detail to identify the resource as unambiguously as possible. Union Recorder (Milledgeville, GA). “Chain Gangs of Georgia: A Shameful State of Affairs.” November 19, 1895. Georgia Historic Newspapers. Digital Library of Georgia. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. United States Georgia Baldwin County Milledgeville 33.08014, -83.2321 Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1895-11-19 Provenance A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource. Digitized from original print newspapers held by the Georgia Newspaper Project and made available through Georgia Historic Newspapers via the Digital Library of Georgia. Archival framing Archival silence Carceral labor Convict camps in Georgia Gender and labor Georgia Institutional power Late 19th century Newspaper article Post Reconstruction era Race and labor Representation and bias South United States