About

         Nothing but Numbers: A Narrative of Convict Labor at Clemson College, is a project created by Clemson University MA student Marissa Davis in their first semester for Professor Douglas Seefeldt's HIST 8500 Digital Methods in History course in Fall 2020.

          The title comes from a conversation held with distinguished Calhoun Lemon Professor of Literature, Dr. Rhondda Thomas. While on a visit to the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, the topic of convict labor came up. Verbatim she said, “convicts were effectively just numbers.” This stuck with me, hence the title of my project.

          In this thematic research collection, I am studying the institution and implementation of South Carolina Convict Leasing at Clemson College that began in the 1890s. The objective is to write the historical narrative for how the system of penal labor was introduced and maintained at Clemson College. Inquiries concerning what types of laborers were sent out for by the college, as well as any specific persons who were involved with the collection process, will be made.

          Evaluating this topic through the small niche of the backcountry of South Carolina will provide surprises, puzzles, and possibly contradistinctions, to what is already known about South Carolina history. I believe that engaging with this topic will allow me, and my audience, to engage more with the relationships between convict laborers and their white privileged counterparts. I find it interesting to see how college officials willingly worked these individuals, not caring in the least what fate lay ahead of them.

          Research and enunciation of this historical time will help readers absorb two significant truths: the apprehensive atmosphere within the black community of upstate South Carolina and the indoctrinated mark that convict leasing left on the community of Clemson, South Carolina at large.

          A Study about Convict Leasing at Clemson College will also help my audience try to find an answer to my primary research question: was the convict system effectively prison slavery? A preliminary answer is offered in part three of this project, but I invite all interested to continue along the path I have created to determine a reply.

 

For questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me at mariss7@g.clemson.edu.