Saturday, on my early morning trek to the Mississippi Delta, I opted to take the back roads instead of the interstate. I hate interstates, loathe them in fact. Don't get me wrong, I love the convenience that interstates offer, but the endless stretches of nothingness severely affects my mental stability. It's like the Twilight Zone - "Didn't we already pass that? Why does everything look the same?"
So I'll just take a page from my grandfather's book; take the scenic route, slow down and enjoy the surroundings.
About an hour into my trek, I reached one of my favorite (?) places on Earth, Parchman. I know what you're thinking, "Dang, you must not get out much if that's on your list of favorite places."
No, I'm not a weirdo. My almost obsessive interest in Parchman is purely historical. The like the history that surrounds the infamous penal farm - the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Mississippi State Penitentiary or to those of us who grew up close to it, Parchman Farm or just plain Parchman. I don't know if it was just us or all high school's in the Mississippi Delta, but as a part of Senior year, we had to take a trip to Parchman. I think they take us to let us know, BEG US, to NOT end up there - women aren't even housed there anymore, but it was frightening and eye opening at the same time. Thank you Humphreys Academy for showing us that Parchman is definitely one place I don't want to end up!
And now for those of y'all who are not familiar with Parchman, allow me to educate you.
Mississippi State Penitentiary or Parchman is located in Sunflower County, MS on land purchased by the state in 1901. Before that, Mississippi used the convict lease system - a system in which lessees paid fees for the state (for a convict) and were responsible for them; feeding, clothing, housing, etc...
When Parchman first started housing inmates, it operated similar to a plantation. The inmates were the labor, the free labor. In its first year of operations, the state of Mississippi earned $185,000.00 from Parchman Farm alone! That's equivalent to about 5 million dollars today!
Ah, the glory days, when prisoners had to work and actually made money for the state; instead of how it is now - us hardworking tax payers ensure that prisoners get 3 hots and a cot.
This post was not supposed to take a left turn into the political spectrum!
I only wanted to educate, oh well!
Here are some old photos I found online.
You can see a ton more here:
http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/parchman/
Mississippi State Penitentiary or Parchman is located in Sunflower County, MS on land purchased by the state in 1901. Before that, Mississippi used the convict lease system - a system in which lessees paid fees for the state (for a convict) and were responsible for them; feeding, clothing, housing, etc...
When Parchman first started housing inmates, it operated similar to a plantation. The inmates were the labor, the free labor. In its first year of operations, the state of Mississippi earned $185,000.00 from Parchman Farm alone! That's equivalent to about 5 million dollars today!
Ah, the glory days, when prisoners had to work and actually made money for the state; instead of how it is now - us hardworking tax payers ensure that prisoners get 3 hots and a cot.
This post was not supposed to take a left turn into the political spectrum!
I only wanted to educate, oh well!
Here are some old photos I found online.
You can see a ton more here:
http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/parchman/
If you are interested in learning more (and you should be!), read 'Down on Parchman Farm' or 'Worse than Slavery,' probably not available at your local book store - do those even exist anymore - but I know Amazon has them!
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