Sumter County in the Civil Rights Movement -- Americus GA
N 32° 04.300 W 084° 14.327
16S E 760652 N 3551716
The state historic marker at the Sumter County Courthouse in Americus Georgia discusses civil rights era efforts to end segregation in this county
Waymark Code: WMWHTM
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 09/08/2017
Views: 0
The state historic marker stands in an attractive plaza area at the east side of the Sumter County Courthouse. The door from the jail cell that had held civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King stands nearby.
The marker reads as follows:
"Sumter County in the Civil Rights Movement
Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested for protesting racial segregation in Albany on December 16, 1961, and held in the Sumter County jail. Kings arrest dovetailed with community and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) efforts to establish the Sumter County Movement. Largely comprised of preteen and teenage students, the movement repeatedly challenged segregation from 1963 to 1965. In 1963, 33 adolescent girls were incarcerated in the Civil War era stockade after their arrest for protesting. The "Stolen Girls" gained national attention after a SNCC photographer revealed the stockades unsanitary conditions. America's garnered further attention when 4 activists were arrested for insurrection under George's 1871 seditious conspiracy law, a capitol crime. A federal court ruled the law unconstitutional, establishing that peaceful protests could not be punishable by death. The movement success helped in segregation in Southwest Georgia.
Erected by the Georgia Historical Society
and the Sumter County Board of Commissioners
2015.2
1294"
Civil Right Type: Race (includes U.S. Civil Rights movement)
|
Visit Instructions:
You must have visited the site in person, not online.