7] BULLETIN No. 583 We 
Contribution from the Office of Public Roads and Rural yy h| 
Engineering, LOGAN WALLER PAGE, Director 
WASHINGTON, D. C. March 7, 1918 
REPORT ON EXPERIMENTAL CONVICT ROAD CAMP, 
FULTON COUNTY, GA. 
By H. S. Farrpank and R. H. EastuHam, Highway Engineers, and W. F. 
Draper, Passed Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Public Health Service. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. Page 
Striking results of the experiment ............. 2 | Furniture and equipment..................... 25 
The plan of cooperation............-- Be ets 4: “| SUpSISLONCC hs. 2 aces toga ee ers ee se ss aa 29 
The system of convict labor in Georgia. ....... 4 | Medicine and medical attention..............- 36 
Description of the camp site..............-- ... 7 | Transportation of convicts and supplies........ 38 
CanMipipuu Gils 6 59 eo= cases soe ee eee 10 | Convict population...........-. See a tas Sartore 39 
Other camp structures and fixtures............ 15%) Disciplinetandimorales =o cssss.-eese sees esos 44 
Moving portable buildings...........-...---.-- 1 5P 4S SAU AtLON LEA wep ee RR RPS lee Seely hale. 45 
PRHOMWALCESUDPLY/s ces> oe nko se ie Ss einem 19 | Records andstenonts seepee- =e sae ere 47 
DEMATOMISHOSAN 258 Bo Ree ee ree eee 2 22 | Summarized costs of maintenance...........-- 56 
(eanbareidispOsal yf. o6 ok tee ee Lape tes ve Seem) eckv Onde Ww OKs yoo atari otanclaie or = teroln Seal tel sieeieierioe 57 
COLETTE Ss ie he er Ce Ser a ae ee 24 
Without a single attempt to escape, an average of 40 negro con- 
victs were maintained for 10 months in the Fulton County (Ga.) 
honor camp conducted under the observation of the United States 
Office of Public Roads and Rural Engineering and the United States 
Public Health Service. This notwithstanding the facts that the 
convicts were worked without armed guards, without exceptional 
conditions as to hours of labor, without special rewards or other 
unusual inducements to good behavior, and with the camp located 
near a trolley line and within 11 miles of the city of Atlanta, from 
which most of the convicts were sentenced, a condition admitted by 
all competent authorities to be most unfavorable to the successful 
operation of an honor camp. 
With a diet prescribed by the United States Public Health Service, 
‘ample in quantity and containing all the properties essential to 
maintain laborers engaged in heavy outdoor work, the convicts were 
fed at a cost 9 cents per day lower than that required to maintain 
other convicts on an unbalanced diet in the same county at the same 
time. 
5847°—18—Bull. 583 ——1 
