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Hoe Line, Ferguson Prison, Huntsville, Texas from Conversations with the Dead

Date

1967

Creator

Danny Lyon
Raclin Murphy Museum of Art

This photograph is one from a sequence representing a team of black workers going out to work in the fields, watched over by armed guards on horseback and in pickup trucks. In this image they have reached the field and work as a team, preparing the soil for seasonal planting. They wear white prison uniforms and hats to protect them from the hot sun, but some of Lyon's photographs show inmates suffering from heat stroke. He captured this rank of men working together, standing closely side by side in a line that continues to either side beyond the frame. Their postures, and the varied positions of the dark hoe blades, convey a sensation of movement. As they hoe the soil toward them, clumps of dust and clay rise into the air against their white pants. Lyon's images of toiling African Americans, watched over by passive white officers, reflects the racial segregation of the Texas prison system and its lamentable history of slavery.

from Acton, A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame: Twentieth Century (Notre Dame, 2019)

Images

This is called Hoe Line, Ferguson Prison, Huntsville, Texas from Conversations with the Dead within the category of Photographs.Open in external viewer application
This is called Hoe Line, Ferguson Prison, Huntsville, Texas from Conversations with the Dead within the category of Photographs.
This is called Hoe Line, Ferguson Prison, Huntsville, Texas from Conversations with the Dead within the category of Photographs.

Metadata

Creator
Danny Lyon (American, b. 1942)
Date
1967
Classification
Photographs
Related Location
Huntsville, North America, United States, Walker, Texas
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
11 x 14 in. (27.8 x 35.6 cm)
Credit Line
Humana Foundation EndowmentHumana Foundation Endowment
Copyright Status
Copyright
Copyright Statement
© Danny Lyon, courtesy of Magnum Photos
Subject
agricultural land
hoes
prisoners
uniforms

Metadata

Accession Number
1996.035.001
Campus Location
Raclin Murphy Museum of Art
Access

Not on view, please request access

Metadata

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Our collection information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. If you have spotted an error, please contact Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at RMMACollections@nd.edu.


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