Aug 11 2010

Crazy Prison Industrial Complex Fact of the Day: Historical Edition 8/11/10

Data geeks rejoice! I have been working on a popular education project about the prison industrial complex for months now.   As such, I am currently looking at a lot of historical data about incarceration and taking tons of notes.  I thought that some of you might be interested in a couple of charts outlining historical racial differences in incarceration since I have shared so much contemporary data over the past few weeks.  If folks are interested, over the coming days, I can share some detailed charts about incarceration in 1929 (start of the Great Depression), 1945 (the end of World War II) and 1964 (the heart of the black freedom struggle). Leave a comment.

Please note that these charts are based on documented information from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.  The Bureau has created a set of “estimated” numbers as well because some of the state documentation was unavailable or inaccessible.  So the first chart relies on the BJS’s estimates based on the best available documentation that state governments collected at the time.  The second more detailed chart is based solely on documentation that was provided by jurisdictions at the time.  As such, those tallies actually undercount the numbers of prisoners.  Nevertheless they are interesting to look at and to compare to our most recent numbers.  By any measure, you can see how the United States has become over time a prison nation.

Table 5. Estimated imprisonment rate, by race: 1926 versus 1986

1926 1986
Estimated admissions to State and Federal Prisons Estimated resident population Estimated admissions per 100,000 population Estimated admissions to State and Federal prisons Estimated resident population Estimated admissions per 100,000 population
Total 50,312 116,330,000 43 223,883 240,551,200 93
White 37,734 104,201,000 36 122,483 194,748,200 63
Black 12,075 11,381,800 106 98,519 28,844,600 342
Other 503 810,400 62 2,881 16,958.400 17
Source: Race of Prisoners Admitted to State and Federal Institutions, 1926-86

You might find it interesting as you look at the chart below to notice how blacks outnumber whites as prisoners in the southern states of Maryland, Louisiana, Mississippi and Virginia.

For fun, click here to see current data about state prison populations.   For example, in 2009, Illinois had 45,161 prisoners.  In 1926, Illinois had 1,728 prisoners.  Seems quaint doesn’t it?  Hey, some people get excited about winning a trip to Bermuda, I get psyched about data.  To each her own…

Table 7. Sentenced prisoners admitted to State and Federal Institutions, by race, 1926
Jurisdiction Total White Black Other races Race not reported
U.S. total 43,328 33,559 9,274 409 86
Federal 5,010 4,042 641 323 4
State 38,318 28,701 8,633 902 82
Northeast
Connecticut 401 293 34 0 74
Maine 210 210 0
Massachusetts 826 791 30 5
New Hampshire 33 33
New Jersey 1,170 893 273 3 1
New York 3,290 2,838 433 17 2
Pennsylvania 1,531 1,219 308 4
Rhode Island 197 141 55 1
Vermont 285 281 4
North Central
Illinois 1,728 1,371 352 5
Indiana 1,385 1,144 231 10
Iowa 665 627 38
Kansas 1,253 1,050 186 17
Michigan 3,040 2,355 620 61 4
Minnesota 822 799 14 9
Missouri 1,609 1,213 396
Nebraska 495 454 30 11
North Dakota 210 197 11 2
Ohio 3,180 2,302 871 7
South Dakota 297 262 1 34
Wisconsin 817 778 21 18
South
Arkansas 998 576 522
Kentucky 1,365 908 467
Louisiana 765 291 471 3
Maryland 1,882 759 1,120 3
Mississippi 649 199 448 2
North Carolina 580 319 256 4 1
Oklahoma 1,680 1,206 390 84
South Carolina 302 161 140 1
Tennessee 253 185 67 1
Virginia 844 361 482 1
West Virginia 854 634 220
West
Arizona 257 139 21 97
California 1,849 1,466 129 254
Colorado 806 637 41 128
Montana 277 233 16 28
Nevada 123 93 4 26
Oregon 332 314 1 17
Utah 155 133 3 19
Washington 827 775 34 18
Wyoming 76 61 3 12
Source: Race of Prisoners Admitted to State and Federal institutions, 1926-1986

Note: The white U.S. total includes Mexicans, but the Federal and State totals for whites exclude Mexicans.  The “other races” U.S. total excludes Mexicans, but the Federal and State totals for “other races” include Mexicans.