Letter from James Foster, a 68-year-old prisoner in Wetumpka, Alabama, to Governor W. J. Samford. In the letter Foster asks the governor to grant him parole. He acknowledges his guilt but argues that his good behavior makes him a worthy candidate...
This article reports that state convicts will no longer be leased to coal mines in Alabama: "This determination has been brought about by the advice of Physician Inspector Bragg, who says a change in conditions is necessary to preserve the life and...
Leaflet issued by the Statewide Campaign Committee for the Abolishment of the Convict Contract System, explaining why the campaign has failed thus far: "No successful effort was made to develop a comprehensive system of employing convicts then...
These documents belonged to Wallace's attorney, J. Kirkman Jackson, who defended him when U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy sought an injunction enjoining Wallace from preventing the enrollment of Vivian Malone and David McGlathery at the...
At the meeting Judge William E. Fort will speak about the abolishment of the "Convict Contract System." The program is "Endorsed by the Federated Clubs of the State, W.C.T.U., Patriotic Clubs, League of Women Voters, and every man or woman who...
In the letter Grimson discusses efforts to abolish the convict leasing system in Alabama. He suggests that the state use the Florida campaign as a template to follow, noting the criticism Alabama would receive "if anything should happen while they...
In the letter Foster asks the governor to grant him parole: "If you and the Board will parole me Governor I swear by all the true Gods that ever existed that I will ever reverence the Alabama Board of Pardons, and hold perpetually as my Trinity,...
In the letter Kilpatrick explains that Aquilla A. Griffith, a state senator from Cullman, is "in line with the efforts of the committee" to abolish the convict lease system and that a "close county organization" could not accomplish anything else...
In the letter, Mrs. Neill states that "the President of the Alabama Federation of Women's Clubs has been instructed to appoint a committee to visit the mines in which convict labor is employed." She tells Mrs. Toulmin that "the visit is to be made...
At the time this letter was written, Oates was serving as the state prison inspector. In it Adams reports on conditions in the Chambers County jail. He notes that the eleven prisoners (one white man and eleven African American men) are healthy, but...
In the letter Ellis discusses the case of Adam Lowry, who was tried and convicted twice, first for stealing a hog and then for stealing a horse. After the second offense Lowry's right hand was branded with the letter "T" and he was put in jail. The...
In the letter Tutwiler declines White's the invitation to attend a prison reform conference, but she outlines eight reforms to be considered. First, she hopes that "convicts should not be employed in any occupation where loss of life is far above...
Jeffries was president of the Alabama Woman's Christian Temperance Union. In the letter she mentions that the W.C.T.U. has been an opponent of convict leasing since Julia Tutwiler "brought the abuses of the system to the attention of our...
The two women were officers in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Attalla. In the letter they "wish to add our protest to the many thousands already sent in, against the present convict lease system, which we learn has existed (a blot on our...
In the letter McDonough mentions that when Governor Kilby was in office, he had submitted to him and the convict board "a proposal which would solve the situation for all times." He had also talked to William Brandon about the matter before his...
In the letter Gray discusses the case of Adam Lowry, who was tried and convicted twice, first for stealing a hog and then for stealing a horse. He explains that Lowry "is an object of Executive Clemency" and asks that he be pardoned from serving...
At the time this letter was written, Oates was serving as the state prison inspector. In it he reports on conditions in the Chilton County jail, where there are twenty-five prisoners (six white men, eighteen African American men, and one African...
At the time this letter was written, Oates was serving as the state prison inspector. In it he reports on conditions in the Perry County jail, where there are forty-one prisoners (one white man and forty African American men). He notes that...