This article is over 7 years old

Houston Matters

Slavery By Another Name: The History of Convict Leasing in Texas

Rice University recently displayed a small exhibit on a subject of Texas history you may not be aware of: convict leasing – the use of prison labor right after the Civil War. Historians say it predominately affected African Americans. Houston Matters producer Maggie Martin reports on the past and present implications of the convict lease […]

| Posted on

Share

Old Imperial Farm Cemetery

Listen

To embed this piece of audio in your site, please use this code:

<iframe src="https://embed.hpm.io/1/215128" style="height: 115px; width: 100%;"></iframe>
X
Rice University recently displayed a small exhibit on a subject of Texas history you may not be aware of: convict leasing – the use of prison labor right after the Civil War. Historians say it predominately affected African Americans.

Houston Matters producer Maggie Martin reports on the past and present implications of the convict lease system in Texas.

(Above: The Old Imperial Farm Cemetery in Sugar Land. Many suspect that some of the men buried here were part of the convict leasing system.)