Department of Justice: Slavery, Peonage, and Involuntary Servitude

Antoinette Harrell has spent counting of hours in the National Archives in Washington, D.C., conducting peonage research in Class 50 (Peonage) Litigation Case Files, 1907 - 1973. The cases and documents in the book is directly from these files.

These Class 50 litigation case files were created or accumulated by the Civil Rights Division in carrying out the Department of Justice's (DOJ) responsibilities in matters arising under statutes implementing the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitu...