Unknown
Group Portrait of "Trusty Shooters" Standing Guard on the Mississippi Prison Farm at Parchman, 1939
Silver print
7 x 9 inches
With affixed caption and date-stamp verso.
With affixed caption and date-stamp verso.
Sold
A compelling photograph showing a group of 'trusty shooters' standing guard at the infamous Mississippi State Prison and Parchman Farm. The Trusty System (sometimes erroneously spelled 'trustee') was a penitentiary...
A compelling photograph showing a group of "trusty shooters" standing guard at the infamous Mississippi State Prison and Parchman Farm.
The Trusty System (sometimes erroneously spelled "trustee") was a penitentiary system of discipline and security whereby certain inmates were granted privileges and responsibilities usually held by staff. Tasked ranged from counting keys and performing other janitorial and clerical jobs up to guard duties. At the top of the hierarchy were the trusty shooters, who were permitted to carry rifles. The trusty practice began in 1901, replacing convict leasing, and remained part of the Mississippi penal system until 1974, when the landmark case "Gates V. Collier" brought an end to the trusty system and other flagrant inmate abuse at Mississippi State Penitentiary,
The caption on the back of the present photograph notes that the men are wearing vertical stripes to distinguish themselves from the other inmates, whose stripes run horizontal.
The Trusty System (sometimes erroneously spelled "trustee") was a penitentiary system of discipline and security whereby certain inmates were granted privileges and responsibilities usually held by staff. Tasked ranged from counting keys and performing other janitorial and clerical jobs up to guard duties. At the top of the hierarchy were the trusty shooters, who were permitted to carry rifles. The trusty practice began in 1901, replacing convict leasing, and remained part of the Mississippi penal system until 1974, when the landmark case "Gates V. Collier" brought an end to the trusty system and other flagrant inmate abuse at Mississippi State Penitentiary,
The caption on the back of the present photograph notes that the men are wearing vertical stripes to distinguish themselves from the other inmates, whose stripes run horizontal.