Southern Gothic
The Banner Mine Explosion of 1911 | Encore Episode
Published: 4 May 2026 at 08:00 Europe/London
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Episode notes
The Banner Mine explosion of April 8, 1911, in Alabama claimed the lives of 128 men, predominantly African American prisoners leased to the Pratt Consolidated Coal Company by the state. This devastating event underscored the dire conditions of convict-lease labor, a system exploiting carefully tailored laws to target black men for profit-driven incarceration. Despite the tragedy, reforms to address the systemic injustices perpetuated by this exploitative practice were not made in Alabama for another decade and a half.
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