Forced Labor Collection

Russian prisoners forced to work in Siberia, 1880s
Russian convicts returning at night from the mines in Siberia, 1880s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Russian political prisoners sent to Siberia, 1880s
Russian prisoners marched on a muddy road to exile in Siberia, 1880s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

PRISONERS. Five African American convicts breaking up rocks for road construction at a prison camp in rural America. Photograph, c1934-1950

ARKANSAS: PRSIONERS, 1934. African American convicts working with shovels, possibly the singers of Rock Island Line at Cummins State Farm, Gould, Arkansas. Photograph, 1934

CHAIN GANG. African American convicts working in a labor prison camp in the rural south. Photograph, c1930-1950

TEXAS: PRISONERS, 1934. Lightnin Washington, an African American prisoner, singing with his group while chopping wood in a labor prison at Darrington State Farm, Texas

RUSSIA: FORCED LABOR, c1885. Russian prison guards surrounding a placer mine in the Transbaikalia region of Siberia, where convicts sentenced to hard labor are working. Photographed c1885

RUSSIA: FORCED LABOR, 1895. Russian convict railroad workers in the Ussuri region in eastern Siberia. Photographed by William Henry Jackson, October 1895

Perm, siberia, ussr 1943, barracks of corrective labor camp (part of gulag) for builders of the panyshevsky electric station

Perm, siberia, ussr 1943, interior of barracks for prisoners working at panyshevsky corrective labor camp (part of gulag) working on panyshevsky electric station

GEORGIA: PRISONERS, 1941. A prison guard watching convicts as they work in a prison camp in Oglethorpe County, Georgia
GEORGIA: PRISON GUARD, 1941. A prison guard watching convicts as they work in a prison camp in Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Photograph by Jack Delano, May 1941

RAILROAD CREW, 1877. Convict laborers from a railroad crew in western Louisiana under close supervision at a camp along the route of the proposed New Orleans Pacific Railroad, 1877

TEXAS: CHAIN GANG, 1874. Convicts at work in the Forest. A chain gang in Texas. Wood engraving, 1874

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"Unseen Chains: A Glimpse into the Dark World of Forced Labor" In the 1880s, Siberia became a haunting symbol of oppression as Russian prisoners were ruthlessly forced to work in its icy depths. Political dissidents found themselves exiled to this desolate land, their freedom stripped away. Meanwhile, across the ocean, African American convicts in Arkansas and rural parts of the South faced a similar fate. Breaking rocks under scorching sunrays for road construction, they endured grueling labor as part of chain gangs - an embodiment of systemic injustice. The year was 1934 when Lightnin Washington's voice echoed through the Texas prison walls. Amidst hardship and despair, his soulful melodies provided solace to those trapped within these oppressive systems. But it wasn't just Russia or America grappling with this dark reality. In 1895 Ussuri region witnessed Russian convict railroad workers tirelessly building tracks while shackled by their sentences. The Gulag system further perpetuated this cruelty during WWII as Perm's corrective labor camps housed builders constructing Panyshevsky electric station. Within those barracks lay stories untold - tales of resilience amidst adversity. Prisoners from different backgrounds shared cramped spaces while working on projects that would never bear their names. Forced labor knows no boundaries; it transcends time and geography, and is a reminder that humanity has often failed its own kind by subjecting them to unimaginable suffering behind bars. As we reflect upon these glimpses into history's darkest chapters, let us strive for justice and compassion so that no one should ever be subjected to such dehumanizing conditions again.