In this series Francis Smith, using records from his own collection, shows how much can be learnt about the life of the black American from the blues he sang.

As late as 1957, the New York Post described a State Penitentiary as 'simply a cotton plantation using convicts as labour. The annual report of the Warden is not of salvaged lives - it's a profit and loss account.' Before the war, obedience was enforced by flogging. Booker White, Curtis Henry and Calvin Leavy are among the many to record their experiences.