In the early 20th century, nearly all state prisoners were leased to private companies for hard labor in often deplorable conditions. Prisoners were expected to labor from sunrise to sunset mining phosphate, tapping pine trees for turpentine, clearing swamps, harvesting timber or building roads.

Zora Neale Hurston is most famous for her novels. However, during the Great Depression, Hurston worked as a folklorist in Florida. Through her work with the Federal Writers’ Project, Hurston captured stories, songs, traditions and histories from African-Americans in small communities across Florida.

In 1939, Hurston went to Cross City in Dixie County, Florida. Hurston’s essay, “Turpentine,” traced her travels through the pine forests with an African-American woods rider named John McFarlin. Her work on Florida’s turpentine camps is still considered authoritative.