Famished for Freedom: Pellagra and Medical Clemency at the Mississippi State Penitentiary.

This paper provides a case study of one medical experiment conducted in 1915 by the United States Public Health Service in collaboration with the Mississippi State Penitentiary. The experiment was non-therapeutic and its objective was to induce pellagra (a vitamin deficiency disease) in twelve healthy White male prisoners to confirm its etiology. Extant archival records produced by the convict participants, state politicians, and health researchers underscore that the men selected for the pellagra experiment were unique among incarcerated people in Mississippi at the time: they were White, wealthy, and politically well-connected.