Reginald Dawson

Reginald Dawson took charge of the Alabama Board of Prison Inspectors in 1885 when the post of warden was abolished. Dawson was considered successful at mediating disputes between coal companies and the prisoners leased to them in the convict-lease system. Alabama was the last state to abolish the practice, which has been likened to a modern form of slavery, in 1928.

Courtesy of the Alabama Department of Archives and History