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Chain Gangs and Prisons

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keywords: prison, prisoners, chain gang, shackles, prison license plate shop, alcatraz island, turpentine production

Synopsis: Prison lifestyle of the 1930's documenting life on a chain gang as well as a facilities in Georgia and Alcatraz Island in California...(read more)

Date: 1938
Duration: 00:28:35
Sound: No
Color: Monochrome
Type: Public Domain
Language: N/A
Location: United States

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Chain Gangs and Prisons

Chain Gangs And Prisons

Persons convicted of a crime in the 1920’s were called convicts and were expected to earn their keep. This film documents the chain gangs of that era where the prisoners were put to work doing roadwork, plowing fields with teams of mules, and working in the woods tapping pine trees to collect turpentine. The chain gang convicts slept in mobile cages at remote prison camps.

Close-up of shackles and chains around prisoner’s legs (leg irons) to prevent escape. Clip of two black men in a leg stock. A leg stock or ankle stock is a frame of timber with holes for the feet to restrain a person for punishment.

Scenes of prisoners making automobile license plates or vehicle tags at a prison facility in Collins, Georgia. Scenes of Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco Bay, San Francisco, California. Prisoner transfer after a fire at a prison in Chillicothe, Ohio with guards looking on.