{"product_id":"progressives-and-prison-labor-rebuilding-ohios-national-road-during-world-war-i-9781629221403","title":"Progressives and Prison Labor: Rebuilding Ohio's National Road During World War I","description":"During World War I Ohio Governor James M. Cox accepted pleas from the federal government to initiate a road-building project that would make the National Road suitable for military vehicles. A lack of workers threatened the plans, however, so in a controversial move hundreds of convicts, almost all African American, were pulled from Ohio's prisons to comprise the labor corps. The multi-million-dollar undertaking, completed just as the war ended, created what was reputed to be the world's longest stretch of continuous brick road. Today, the enterprise serves as an excellent example of how racism and plain old-fashioned politics permeated good intentions of one of the last Progressive Era endeavors. Drawing on archives, contemporary records, and many previously unpublished photos, \u003cem\u003eProgressives and Prison Labor: Rebuilding Ohio's National Road during World War I \u003c\/em\u003erecalls the National Road background, the personalities, and the massive construction project that consumed southeast Ohio through the spring and summer of 1918.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Akron Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/19\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781629221403\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 126","brand":"Jeffrey Alan John","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42183776731317,"sku":"9781629221403","price":51.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_866e5733-4a23-42dd-a866-1a8ee7d8551a.jpg?v=1654570798","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/progressives-and-prison-labor-rebuilding-ohios-national-road-during-world-war-i-9781629221403","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}