Our Work with Chattahoochee Brick Co.

Remembering a Brutal Past

Atlanta, Georgia was the site of one of this nation’s largest (and most notorious for its brutality) leased convict labor camps post Reconstruction.  Between the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, Chattahoochee Brick Co. is where hundreds of imprisoned, unpaid,  predominantly Black men and women convicted of misdemeanors were forced to make the bricks that rebuilt Atlanta and many other southern cities after the Civil War.  Two banks were established with the fortunes made by the Brick Company owner, James English, a former Confederate Army Captain. Conditions at the Brick Co. approximated slavery, many say they were worse, where “whipping bosses” enforced discipline with the lash.

All former Confederate States enacted Black Codes after Reconstruction, facilitating a similar fate for many African Americans throughout the south, enriching both state coffers and private enterprises.  US Steel is another company known for the brutal and exploitative convict lease labor practices of its subsidiary mining companies.

Reparatory Efforts in Chattahoochee Today

Today the Chattahoochee Brick Co. Descendants Coalition (CBCDC) has a vision for the old Atlanta property: A sacred site historical park with a convict lease labor museum and memorial to the men, women and children who worked and died there, including an environmentally restored greenspace between the Proctor Creek and the Chattahoochee River. 

In February of  2021, community pressure halted development of a fuel storage and transfer station on the abandoned Brick Co. site,  owned by Lincoln Terminal and leased to Norfolk Southern Railroad.   In April, CBCDC reached out to FFRN! to help fund a Sacred Site Ceremony, to claim the land for the community and consecrate it as a sacred site. 

The event garnered  attention from the media and the City; soon after, then Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms entered negotiations with the Conservation Fund to purchase the property for Atlanta.  One year later, on April 26, 2022, current Mayor Andre Dickens Mayor Andre Dickens signed legislation for the City of Atlanta to acquire 75 acres of land--formerly the site of the Chattahoochee Brick Company--to develop parks, greenspace and Watershed. FFRN! Now looks forward to supporting the CBCDC as it partners with the City to reach its goal.

Support for Healing at the Chattahoochee Brick Co. Site

In partnership with Chattahoochee Brick Co. Descendants Coalition (CBCDC), funds raised by FFRN! have support awareness-building programming that amplified the issue to state and national attention.The Fund is excited to continue finding ways to support the robust local efforts to memorialize this important site.

Learn More about the Chattahoochee Brick Co.

Read an excellent article in Atlanta Magazine, on the Chattahoochee Brick Company’s past, present and future: “For Decades, Prisoners Were Forced into Unpaid Labor at a Brickyard along the Chattahoochee River. How Will We Remember Them?”

Watch NAARC’s 2021 Labor Day Program “Convict Leasing, Forced Labor and the Theft of Black Wealth: The Case of the Chattahoochee Brick Company,” featuring portions of the April 2021 Community Sacred Site Consecration Ceremony.