American Prison: A Reporter’s Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment

In the late 1800s, as convict leasing became widespread, the leases were increasingly owned by large corporations rather than individual businessmen. The Tennessee Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company (TCI) managed 15,000 convict laborers, mostly in their coal mines. The mortality rate was high—18 percent in 1889—and “[w]hen a prisoner died, he was typically buried among the mine’s refuse” (151). The high rate of death among Black men was attributed not to the deplorable working conditions, but to the absence of a slave master who might otherwise care for them.

Former slave owner Arthur Colyar established a foothold in the convict leasing industry as the founder of TCI. His convict labor knew no age limit, sometimes employing children as young as 12. Attempting to maximize his resources, he collected their urine to sell to tanneries and, if they died, he sold their bodies to a local medical school. Another great advantage of convict labor was its deterrent to union organizing. As long as convict labor was available to take over mining jobs, free miners were less likely to strike for better working conditions.

In the 1890s, as free miners began demanding better working conditions, the protests turned violent. Earlier, TCI miners had destroyed barracks used to house convict labor, angry at the use of inmates to drive down wages and disincentivize labor organizing.