Angola Prison: A Haunted History?

Angola Prison, officially known as the Louisiana State Penitentiary, is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States. Located in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, it was once a slave plantation, and its name is derived from the country of Angola, from which many of the enslaved people originated.

The prison has a long and troubled history, including forced labour, violence, and poor living conditions. Today, it is known for its high rates of incarceration, with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff, and is the subject of much controversy and debate.

With its past and present issues, one may wonder: is Angola Prison haunted?

Angola's history of violence and its legacy of slavery

Angola Prison in Louisiana, US, is located on land that was once an 8,000-acre plantation in West Feliciana Parish. The plantation was named after the homeland of its former slaves. The prison traces its roots back to 1880, when inmates were housed in the old slave quarters and worked on the plantation.

The history of Angola, the country, is steeped in violence and slavery. The Portuguese arrived in the region in the late 15th century and established several trade posts on the coast. They soon became heavily involved in the Atlantic slave trade. The Portuguese Empire conquered the Mbundu people of Angola, incorporating them into the slave trade. In the late 16th century, the Kingdom of Portugal founded the fortified settlement of Luanda, and later established minor trade posts and forts on the Cuanza River and the Atlantic coast.

Slavery in Angola existed since the late 15th century and continued for centuries. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Angola was the principal source of slaves for the Atlantic slave trade. The Portuguese built a new port in Benguela in 1616 to expand their access to Angolan slaves. From 1617 to 1621, up to 50,000 Angolans were enslaved and shipped to the Americas. The slave trade devastated the local economies and populations, and Angola exported slaves at a rate of 10,000 per year in 1612.

The Portuguese conquest of the Kongo kingdom in the 15th century was a significant event in the region's history. The kingdom was the most powerful state in the area, and its conversion to Christianity and adoption of European customs had a lasting impact. The Portuguese navigators entered into diplomatic relations with the kingdom and began to exert control over the slave trade, which led to conflicts and the expansion of Portuguese territory.

The legacy of slavery and violence in Angola persisted long after the official abolition of slavery. Even after the ban on the export of slaves in 1836 and the abolition of slavery in the Portuguese empire in 1875, slavery continued in thinly disguised forms. Forced labour and cultivation were imposed on the local populations, and cash-poor men were forced into jail and convict labour. The effects of slavery and violence disrupted social structures and traditional security mechanisms, leading to continued exploitation and trafficking in modern times.

Angola's brutal working conditions

Angola Prison, officially known as the Louisiana State Penitentiary, is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States. It is located on the site of a former slave plantation, from which it takes its name, and has a long history of brutal working conditions.

During the convict leasing era, which lasted from 1844 to 1898, prisoners at Angola were forced to work under harsh conditions. This system was particularly exploitative for Black inmates, who were often subleased to landowners as replacement slaves, while white inmates were given more skilled work. During this time, the prison was known as the Angola Plantation and "The Farm".

After the state of Louisiana resumed control of its prisoners in 1901, conditions for inmates began to improve. However, the prison soon became known for its violence, with guards brutalising inmates and prisoners beating, raping, and murdering one another.

In the 1930s, Angola was described as "probably as close to slavery as any person could come in 1930". Inmates were forced to work from dawn until dusk, and those who were deemed "incorrigible" were sent to the Red Hat unit, where they were served leftovers, had to defecate in buckets, and could hear executions taking place nearby.

In 1952, 31 inmates cut their Achilles tendons in protest of the prison's conditions, leading to national news agencies exposing the brutal working conditions at Angola. In 1971, the American Bar Association criticised the conditions, describing Angola as "medieval, squalid and horrifying".

Even today, Angola Prison remains a place of forced labour, with all prisoners required to do hard labour for 90 days in the fields upon arrival. Prisoners are paid as little as two cents an hour for their work, and those who refuse to work or behave "badly" are punished with extended periods of field labour.

In addition to the brutal working conditions, Angola Prison has also been criticised for its inadequate medical care, with prisoners often denied access to specialists or regular medication. The prison's medical staff have also been criticised for their mistrust of inmates, which has resulted in sick prisoners being left untreated.

Angola's death row and execution methods

Angola Prison, officially known as the Louisiana State Penitentiary, is a maximum-security prison farm in Louisiana. It is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States, with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff. The prison is located in West Feliciana Parish, between oxbow lakes on the east side of a bend in the Mississippi River.

Death Row and Execution Methods at Angola

Angola Prison is home to death row for men and the state execution chamber for women and men. Prisoners on death row are held in solitary confinement for the duration of their incarceration, even if appeals take years. They are confined to their windowless cells for 23 hours per day and are allowed out for two hours each morning and afternoon, as well as two hours of communal outdoor recreation twice a week. Death row inmates are not permitted to participate in education or work programs.

Historically, executions at Angola Prison were carried out by electrocution. The state's electric chair, nicknamed "Gruesome Gertie," was stored at the prison. Due to the negative association with state executions, West Feliciana Parish did not want to be linked to these procedures. As a result, the electric chair was transported to the parish of conviction of the condemned prisoner before their execution.

In 1990, Louisiana retired the electric chair and adopted lethal injection as the method of execution. The first legal execution by lethal injection in the state took place in 1991. Between 1991 and 2019, eight condemned inmates were executed by lethal injection.

The death chamber at Angola Prison is located adjacent to a conference room, where inmates eat their last meal. The chamber features a black gurney with leather straps and shackles at the feet. There is a separate entrance for the executioner to maintain anonymity.

Conditions on Death Row

Death row inmates at Angola Prison have reported issues with the conditions of their confinement. In 2013, a federal lawsuit was filed against the prison, alleging that the facility did not have adequate measures to prevent overheating. As a result, a cooling system was installed.

In 2021, a class-action lawsuit was filed by three death row inmates, challenging the solitary confinement policy as "cruel and unusual punishment." The lawsuit described the conditions on death row, including sparse cells, lack of religious services, and inadequate food. As a result of this lawsuit, inmates on death row were granted additional out-of-cell time, communal activities, and improved food and visitation options.

Angola Prison has a long history of harsh conditions, violence, and human rights abuses. While efforts have been made to improve the facility, it continues to struggle with issues such as inadequate medical care, prisoner exploitation, and systemic racial disparities.

Angola's rodeo and other prison events

The Angola Prison Rodeo is the longest-running prison rodeo in the United States. It was first held in 1965, though it was not opened to the public until 1967. The rodeo takes place on one weekend in April and every Sunday in October, with thousands of visitors entering the prison complex in Tunica Hills, north of Baton Rouge.

The event was started by inmate Jack Favor, a former rodeo star from Texas who was wrongly convicted of two murders and sentenced to life at Angola. He wanted to instil self-discipline in the prisoners and formed a chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The rodeo was initially a simple affair, staged for the entertainment of prisoners and employees, but it soon attracted crowds of spectators.

The Angola Prison Rodeo includes traditional events such as bull riding, bronco riding, barrel racing, and steer wrestling. However, it also features unique events such as Convict Poker, where four inmates play poker while a loose bull tries to unseat them, and Prisoner Pinball, where inmates stand in randomly placed hula hoops and try to avoid being unseated by a bull. The most infamous event is Guts and Glory, where a poker chip is tied to the head of a longhorn bull, and inmates try to snatch the chip to win a monetary prize.

Other events at the rodeo include the Wild Cow Milking, where teams of inmates try to chase down and milk cows, and the Wild Horse Race, where teams of three try to grab untrained horses and be the first to cross the finish line while still on top of the horse. The rodeo also includes an Arts and Crafts Festival, where prisoners sell handmade artwork, hobbycraft, furniture, and jewellery.

Angola's haunted past and present

Angola Prison, officially known as the Louisiana State Penitentiary, has a long and troubled history. The prison is named after the former slave plantation that occupied the territory, which in turn was named after the country of Angola, from which many of the enslaved people originated. The 18,000-acre site is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States, with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff.

Before it became a prison, the land was home to the Angola Plantations, a slave plantation owned by slave trader Isaac Franklin. After the American Civil War, the land was purchased by former Confederate Major Samuel Lawrence James, who tried to produce cotton with the forced labour of African Americans.

In 1901, the state of Louisiana purchased the prison camp from the James family and resumed control of its prisoners. Conditions for inmates began to improve, but the prison soon became known for its violence, with guards brutalising inmates and prisoners beating, raping and murdering one another.

In the 1930s, Angola was "even further removed from decent civilisation" than it was decades later, according to authors Charles Wolfe and Kip Lornell. They added: "That's the way the state of Louisiana wanted it, for Angola held some of the meanest inmates."

In 1952, 31 inmates cut their Achilles tendons in protest of the prison's conditions. This led to national news agencies exposing the state of the prison, with Collier's Magazine referring to Angola as "the worst prison in America".

In the 1960s, Angola became known as "the bloodiest prison in the South". In the early 1970s, inmates sued the state over the harsh conditions, and a federal court mandated reform.

In 1972, Elayn Hunt was appointed as the head of Louisiana's Department of Corrections and became a fierce advocate for practical criminal justice reform. After her death in 1976, her successors continued her legacy, and by 1977, inmate violence had dramatically decreased, and the violent death rate fell to zero.

Despite these improvements, Angola's history continues to haunt the prison. In recent years, there have been reports of widespread illness, dysfunctional care and deadly neglect during the Covid-19 pandemic. Inmates have also reported abusive treatment, including being held in solitary confinement, denied education, and shackled when outside or showering.

In 2021, a federal judge found that the Louisiana State Penitentiary had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act in its treatment of inmates requiring rehabilitative services.

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