Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman Farm, is the oldest prison and the only maximum security prison in the state of Mississippi, USA. It is located on 18,000 acres (73 km²) in Parchman, Mississippi, and was built in 1904. It has beds for 4840 inmates and houses all male offenders sentenced to death in Mississippi. Inmates work on the prison farm and in manufacturing workshops. State nickname: Magnolia State Other U.S. States Capital Jackson Largest city Jackson Governor Haley Barbour (R) Senators Thad Cochran (R) Trent Lott (R) Official language(s) English Area 125,546 km² (32nd)  - Land 121,606 km²  - Water 3,940 km² (3%) Population (2000)  - Population 2,697,243 (31st)  - Density...

There are a number of Blues songs written about Parchman Farm, and several Blues musicians were imprisoned there, including Leadbelly, Bukka White (who wrote 'Parchman Farm Blues'), and Eddie 'Son' House. The blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on a pentatonic scale as well as a characteristic twelve-bar chord progression. ... Leadbelly, circa 1942; shown with an accordion, though he typically played guitar Leadbelly (born Huddie William Ledbetter; January 29, 1885 – December 6, 1949) was an American folk musician, notable for his strong, clear voice, for his forceful singing, and for his virtuosity as a twelve string guitar player. ... Bukka White album cover Bukka White (or Booker T. Washington White, probably born November 12, 1909, near Houston, Mississippi died February 26, 1977) was a delta blues guitarist and singer. ... Son House, circa 1965 Eddie James House, Jr. ...

It is known for the part it played in the United States Civil Rights Movement. In the spring of 1961, Freedom Riders (civil rights workers) came to the South to test the desegregation of public facilities. By the end of June, 163 Freedom Riders had been convicted in Jackson, Mississippi. Many were jailed in Parchman. Civil Rights Movement in the United States, political, legal, and social struggle to gain full citizenship rights for African American and to achieve racial equality. ... The Freedom Riders were a group of men and women from many different background and ethnicities who boarded buses, trains and planes headed for the deep South to test the 1960 U.S. Supreme Court ruling outlawing racial segregation in all interstate public facilities. ... The U.S. Southern states or The South, known during the American Civil War era as Dixie, is a distinctive region of the United States with its own unique historical perspective, customs, musical styles, and cuisine. ... Desegregation is the process of ending racial segregation, most commonly used in reference to the United States. ... Jackson is the capital, as well as the largest city, in the U.S. state of Mississippi. ...

In 1970 the Civil Rights lawyer Roy Haber began taking statements from inmates, which eventually ran to fifty pages of details of murders, rapes, beatings and other abuses suffered by the inmates from 1969 to 1971. The prison was overhauled in 1972 after a scathing ruling by Judge Keady in which he wrote that the prison violated the Constitution, and was an affront to 'modern standards of decency'. Among other reforms, the accommodation was made fit for human habitation, and the system of 'trusties' (where lifers were armed with rifles and set to guard other inmates) was abolished.

Sources

• Oshinsky, David M. Worse Than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice. Free Press, 1997.