The Carceral City
Slavery and the Making of Mass Incarceration in New Orleans, by Dr. John Bardes
Saturday, September 21st, 11am • Nora Navra Library and Zoom
Join us at at 11am on 9/21 at the Nora Navra Library or on Zoom
About the Program
Louisiana State University’s Dr. John Bardes and the City Archives present his author talk on his new book, “The Carceral City: Slavery and the Making of Mass Incarceration in New Orleans, 1803-1938”.
Using research including records from the City Archives and Special Collections, Bardes reinterprets relations between slavery and prison development in American history. In his book, he explores how slavery, the prison, and race are deeply interwoven into the history of American governance.
This is a hybrid event with both virtual and in-person access. Attend in person at Nora Navra Library, or click the “Register” button to sign up for the Zoom meeting.
About the Book
From the book: “Americans often assume that slave societies had little use for prisons and police because slaveholders only ever inflicted violence directly or through overseers. Mustering tens of thousands of previously overlooked arrest and prison records, John K. Bardes demonstrates the opposite: in parts of the South, enslaved and free people were jailed at astronomical rates. Slaveholders were deeply reliant on coercive state action. Authorities built massive slave prisons and devised specialized slave penal systems to maintain control and maximize profit. Indeed, in New Orleans—for most of the past half-century, the city with the highest incarceration rate in the United States—enslaved people were jailed at higher rates during the antebellum era than are Black residents today. Moreover, some slave prisons remained in use well after Emancipation: in these forgotten institutions lie the hidden origins of state violence under Jim Crow.
With powerful and evocative prose, Bardes boldly reinterprets relations between slavery and prison development in American history. Racialized policing and mass incarceration are among the gravest moral crises of our age, but they are not new: slavery, the prison, and race are deeply interwoven into the history of American governance.“
About the Presenter
John K. Bardes is assistant professor of history at Louisiana State University. He most recently served as an advisor on the Historic New Orleans Collection’s exhibit “Captive State: Louisiana and the Making of Mass Incarceration”, which will be on display at their French Quarter gallery through January 19th, 2025.
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