Digital Snapshots

Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman)

Parchman Machinery & Technological Improvements

This exhibit features technological and mechanical improvements made at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, specifically in the mid- to late-twentieth century, demonstrating the continuance of prison labor and the facility’s “prison farm” system.


  • Six men on six tractors in a field

    Parchman (Mississippi State Penitentiary) Photograph Booklet, Item 8; undated

    New Tractors at Work, Which Were Bought This Spring

  • Men with cows and new dairy machines

    Parchman (Mississippi State Penitentiary) Photograph Booklet, Item 30; undated

    Dairy Herd and Dairy Unit

  • New vats in dairy unit

    Parchman (Mississippi State Penitentiary) Photograph Booklet, Item 32; undated

    Dairy Herd and Dairy Unit

  • Sprinkler system in shelter with pigs

    Parchman (Mississippi State Penitentiary) Photograph Booklet, Item 58; undated

    New Sprinkling System and Drying Shed