Searching for Jane Crow: Black Women and Mass Incarceration in America from the Auction Block to the Cell Block

by Talitha L. LeFlouria

Gives voice to the Black women whose lives were devastated by the carceral system and sheds powerful light on its slavery-based roots to transform how we think about mass incarceration

Historian Talitha L. LeFlouria centers Black women at the core of a fresh argument: that the system of mass incarceration was established as protection for the institution of slavery and the profits of enslavers and that this legacy continues today.

For centuries, Black women in America have experienced extreme rates of arrest, conviction, and incarceration in the nation’s jails and prisons, yet their experiences have often been overlooked in favor of Black men’s.

Arguing that the merger between profit and punishment continues to keep Black people bound, LeFlouria traces the connection between enslavement and incarceration, revealing how they have always been intertwined—from the domestic slave trade of 1810-1865, when an estimated one million people were incarcerated in privately owned slave jails, to the post-Civil War era when Black people were enslaved through new systems of state-sponsored mass incarceration, and through to today.

Using archival sources and personal testimonies, LeFlouria tells a new origin story of mass incarceration with the stories of numerous Black women throughout history, including:

· Delia Garlic, who was incarcerated in a slave jail and later sold to a sheriff at the height of the domestic slave trade
· Eliza Purdy, who was jailed and sold to the highest bidder a year after the Civil War ended, and
· Susan Burton, who was commodified and trafficked through a 20th-century cell block, much like an enslaved person on the auction block 200 years prior.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, African American

224 pages, Hardcover

Published August 11, 2026

Reviews

[Ashley V]

This should be required reading for anyone who says “slavery ended in…”

Learning the stories of the many women highlighted in this book was incredibly insightful and important. I had the privilege of listening to an advance copy of the audiobook (thank you to the author, publisher, and libro.fm!) and while non-fiction can sometimes be hard for me to get through, this book was extremely well written and the pacing kept me engaged from start to finish.

[Rosetta Delancy]

New to me author. It was a tough listen; i experienced so many emotions( anger, frustration, sadness and grief), i had to take a step back to process what heard. Talithia definitely did her research for this book ( from slavery to present day). You learn black woman were jailed /incarcerated for foolishness. The system that is “created” is to keep black woman submissive, in a servitude place and becoming or staying someone’s property. It’s important for everyone to read this book; especially with their family/generation history. How do you fix a broken system that doesn’t want to be fixed?

“Pull yourself up by the bootstraps” interesting concept: when I do, you do everything in your power to bring me back to the bottom. Definitely worthy of reading and listening.

[Rai Powell-Allen]

This book is superbly informative while covering the grisly reality of incarceration for women during chattel slavery. The author also clearly describes the evolution of Amerikkka’s current sinister penal/ legal slavery system and its everlasting impact on black families in the USA throughout history.

[Tilwana Stringer]

Books like this will always be a 5 star for me. This was well researched, thoroughly examined and invaluable.

[Patrice Higgins]

This book was heavy. There were things that I knew and other things that I learned that I found disturbing. I finished the book on my way to visit my mother who lives in rural GA. Nowhere near Atlanta, just a small place where I know black women had it (and still have it) hard. I come from this place, Toombs County GA, Vidalia, GA, home of the sweet onion. I know there were nothing but slaves here. I can still see the remnants of their lives every time I visit.

While I live in MD, and not far from DC, I know all too well, I am one of the lucky ones. I left before something happened that would change the trajectory of my life.

The book I rate 4 stars only because of how it was organized at the end. Perhaps if I read it hard copy it would have been easier to follow. A great read and I have already recommended it to others.

[Amy Simons]

Thank you to libro.fm for an ALC. This book raised awareness of the ways in which legalized slavery still exist today through our system of mass incarceration -- with a strong focus on the women and children deeply effected.

[Tangela]

4✨This was too short for me. I wanted more! I understand the reason is due to the lack of information on imprisoned black women during slavery and Reconstruction. I recommend everyone black woman read this book to understand how our ancestors did a lot to build this land and the trauma they endured doing so.

[Candace]

If they taught us this in school maybe our country would be in a different place!

[From The Reader’s Nest]

This book was just as good as I hoped it would be.