While the majority of southern prisoners were African American men and boys, African American women and girls also contributed to the construction of New South industries during the Gilded Age. In places like Georgia — the “industrial capital” of the post-emancipation South and bearer of the most diverse range of industries to emerge after the Civil War — female felons performed all of the same labor duties as men. Some worked in brickyards, sawmills, mines, turpentine camps, and plantations. Others built railroads and engaged in some skilled trades such as blacksmithing, machine operation, and broom making. Yet, unlike their male peers, female convicts had the added burden of domestic work. Domestic servants cooked meals, laundered garments, cleaned camp buildings, and sometimes served as the personal servants of wardens and other penal officials.
The intimate lives of incarcerated women were fraught with loneliness, isolation, and great hardship. These women and teenage girls were frequently subjected to physical and sexual violence, and forced to live in disease-ridden and squalid living quarters. As a result, many women resorted to various forms of resistance. Some women resisted through overt or “active” means, by running away, setting fires, or physically and verbally challenging prison camp authorities. Others resorted to more covert and “passive” means of resistance: working sloppily or slowly, stealing, and destroying property. Singing spirituals and work songs was another way that women prisoners alleviated the difficulty of their circumstances.
Inmate Hattie Ellis Singing, “I Ain’t Got Nobody,” 1939
Lyrics:
I ain’t got nobody
And there’s nobody cares for me
’Cause, I am sad and lonely
Won’t somebody c’mon and take a chance with me
I’ll sing sweet love songs, all the time
Won’t you come be a pal of mine
’Cause, I ain’t got nobody
And there’s nobody cares for me
There’s a saying going ’round this town, and I begin to think it’s true
It’s mighty hard to love someone and that someone don’t love you
Once I had a lovin’ man, the sweetest man in this town
But now he’s gone and left me, he has thrown me down
Now, I ain’t got nobody
And there’s nobody cares for me
’Cause, I am sad and lonely
Won’t somebody c’mon and take a chance with me
I’ll sing sweet songs, all the time
Won’t you come and be a pal of mine
’Cause, I ain’t got nobody
And there’s nobody cares for me
Inmate Doris McMurray Singing, “Shine On,” 1939
Lyrics:
Shine on me
Shine on me
Let your light from your lighthouse
Shine on me
Shine on me
Shine on me
Let your light from your lighthouse
Shine on me
Where is mother?
Oh, where is mother?
There is trouble on the deep blue sea
Where is mother?
Oh, where is mother?
There is trouble on the deep blue sea
Oh, where is father?
Oh, where is father?
There is trouble on the deep blue sea
Where is father?
Oh, where is father?
There is trouble on the deep blue sea
Shine on me
Oh, shine on me
Let your light from your lighthouse
Shine on me
Shine on me
Shine on me
Let your light from your lighthouse
Shine on me
Source: American Folklife Center, Repository/Library of Congress.
Evaluating the Evidence