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