I first wrote about Laura Scott on this blog back in January. I had no idea where her story would take me at the time. Well today, 9 months later, I have given birth to a publication that tells a necessarily incomplete story of her life. It is necessarily incomplete because after so many years it is difficult to reconstruct the life story of a basically unknown black woman prisoner of the early 20th century.

My journey to learn more about Laura which I have cataloged through this blog has led me to her prison records, census records, court records, old newspapers, and more. I had a lot of help along the way from archivists, librarians, and others who helped lead me down a path towards discovering more about this incredible 19th century black woman.

Laura’s story will figure prominently in the Black/Inside: A History of Captivity & Confinement exhibition that I am co-curating and co-organizing with my friends Billy Dee and Teresa Silva.

You can download the new publication here. If you are in Chicago anytime between October 23 and November 21, I invite you to stop by Black/Inside to see Laura’s part of the exhibition and also to pick up a hard copy of the new publication. For those who cannot stop by, I hope that you will download the publication to learn more about this most interesting woman.

Finally, I want to thank some of the readers of this blog for your interest in Laura and for your encouraging words to me. When I faced some dead-ends and became frustrated, I would remember that a few of you had reached out to tell me how interesting Laura was. This would keep me motivated to move ahead. So once again, I want to thank you for reading about Laura and caring about her life.

designed by Billy Dee (Laura Scott)