Kansas, convicts and labor: systems of labor utilized at the Kansas State Penitentiary, 1861-1909.

Abstract

This thesis examines the various forms of convict labor utilized at the Kansas State penitentiary from 1861 to 1909. The study examines the main forms of convict employment, those being primarily the lease, piece-price, public account and state use systems. In looking at the various forms of labor, this study also charts the various changes that took place in the attitude of prison officials and politicians towards prisoners and the practices of the Kansas State penitentiary. From the beginning of the Kansas State penitentiary in 1861 until approximately January of 1909, it was an accepted belief that prisoners should be assigned various tasks with an element of reform, that also made money for the state. The Kansas State penitentiary, like those of other states, was viewed by the legislature as a money making operation. As the pressure for profits became stronger, the prison officials soon lost interest in reform and concentrated instead on profit. Placing profit over reform reached a peak during the populist and Republican struggles for power. Each group was eager to show that it could better provide for the state. One method of doing this was to obtain as much money as possible from state institutions such as the penitentiary. Corruption and scandal arose at the penitentiary during this stormy period of Kansas politics. The element of reform eventually reentered the Kansas penal system due to Republican progressivism and the activities of Kate Barnard, the Oklahoma Charities and Corrections Officer. Investigating reports of abuse of Oklahoma prisoners at the penitentiary, Barnard's actions resulted in intensive investigations, accusations and the eventual removal of the Oklahoma prisoners from the Kansas State penitentiary. Much of the work force of the penitentiary disappeared with the removal of the Oklahoma prisoners. Kansas officials took advantage of the situation to eliminate all systems of labor except the state use method. Kansas would no longer contract out or use prisoners in any way to make money for private enterprise. With this change, prison work to reform prisoners began to once again supplant the practice of exploiting prisoners for profit.