Freeman's Challenge: The Murder That Shook America's Original Prison for Profit

Freeman's Challenge: The Murder That Shook America's Original Prison for Profit by Robin Bernstein ’91, reveals the true origins of profit-driven prisons in New York, long before the Civil War. Bernstein, a historian, tells the story of an Afro-Native teenager named William Freeman who was convicted of a crime he insisted he did not commit and was sentenced to hard labor, for which he demanded wages. His challenge triggered violence and racism that continues to reverberate today. (University of Chicago Press, 2024)