The Courage of the Leesburg Stockade Girls

The Stolen Summer: The Courage of the Leesburg Stockade Girls

​The summer of 1963 is often remembered for the March on Washington and Dr. King’s iconic dream. However, hidden in the rural shadows of Georgia, a group of young girls some as young as 12 were enduring a nightmare that would become a pivotal, yet long-overlooked, chapter in the American Civil Rights Movement.

​A Stand Against Segregation

​In July 1963, a group of approximately 15 to 33 African American girls marched from Friendship Baptist Church to the Martin Theater in Americus, Georgia. Their goal was simple but defiant: to purchase tickets at the “whites-only” entrance. This act of peaceful protest was met with immediate police brutality. Officers used batons to disperse the group, and the young activists were arrested and transported 15 miles away to Leesburg, Georgia.

​Behind the Bars of the Stockade

​The girls were detained in a Civil War-era stockade, a facility never intended for long-term habitation, let alone for children. For nearly 60 days, they were held without formal charges. The conditions inside were inhumane:

• ​Infrastructure: The girls slept on bare concrete floors in the sweltering Georgia heat.

• ​Sanitation: With a broken toilet and only hot shower water available, hygiene was impossible.

• ​Nutrition: They were fed undercooked food and forced to share a single cup for drinking water.

• ​Psychological Warfare: In an attempt to break their spirit, guards once threw a rattlesnake into their cell.

​The Power of the Lens

​For weeks, the families of these girls had no idea where their children were held. The silence was finally broken when Danny Lyon, a photographer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), located the stockade.

​Lyon’s haunting photographs of the girls behind bars were published in The Student Voice and Jet Magazine. These images stripped away the veil of secrecy, sparking national outrage and placing immense pressure on local authorities. By September 1963, the “Leesburg Stockade Girls” were finally released and returned to their families.

​Resilience and Lasting Legacy

​While imprisoned, the girls missed the historic March on Washington, but they created their own movement within the stockade walls. They sang freedom songs to drown out fear and prayed together to maintain their resolve.

​For decades, their story remained a quiet footnote in history. However, in recent years, their bravery has received the recognition it deserves:

• ​2007: Survivors Carol Barner-Seay and Sandra Russell-Mansfield were inducted into the National Voting Rights Museum’s Hall of Fame.

• ​2019: A state historical marker was dedicated at the site of the Leesburg Stockade to honor their sacrifice.

​The defiance of these young women served as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Today, the story of the Leesburg Stockade Girls stands as a testament to the power of youth activism and the enduring human spirit in the face of systemic oppression.