Prisoners conducting roadwork along Malibu Canyon, Malibu, 1921

Description: Due to overcrowding in the Los Angeles County Jail, a labor camp was opened in the canyons of Malibu where prison labor was used to build roads connecting to the Pacific Coast Highway. The open-air camp was noted for its lack of chains, steel bars, or handcuffs.
A group of men are seen digging and loosening dirt with pickaxes while officers in long black coats monitor them. The Pacific Ocean is visible beyond the cliff.
This photograph appears with the article, “Crowded Jail Forces Prisoners Into Open,” Los Angeles Times, 15 May 1921: II1.
Caption: Text from negative sleeve: Chain Gangs
Text from newspaper caption: The gang working in picturesque bit of road overlooking ocean.

Genre: cellulose nitrate film
news photographs
Location: Malibu (Calif.)
Resource type: still image
Subjects: Oceans
Convict labor--California--Malibu
Canyons--California--Malibu
Prisoners--California--Malibu

Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections
Local Identifier: uclamss_1429_1550
ARK: ark:/21198/zz002dc1k8
Manifest url

Rights statement: copyrighted
Rights Holder: UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections, A1713 Young Research Library, Box 951575, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575. E-mail: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu. Phone: (310)825-4988
Rights Country: US
Funding Note: Access to this collection is generously supported by Arcadia funds.
Access to this collection is generously supported by Haynes Foundation funds.
License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License .