The most intriguing characteristic of the Sumter County Movement was the disproportionate number of teenagers and even pre-teens who dominated the marches. For example, in late July, more than thirty-three teenage girls were arrested during a march in Americus and sent to a stockade in nearby Lee County. Photographs taken by SNCC member Danny Lyon, who snuck into the Leesburg Stockade, showed terrified young girls in a barren room with barred windows and a stopped up, overflowing toilet. Such horrific conditions reinforced the fact that the Sumter County Movement's youthful marchers often faced significant threats to their liberties and lives. The Americus-related materials include bibliographies, essays, lesson plans, and links to related materials in the Civil Rights Digital Library.

Freedom on Film is a component of the Civil Rights Digital Library, which received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Cite as: Freedom on Film : Civil Rights in Georgia, http://civilrights.uga.edu/ For permission to use story passages or images from the Web site, contact Dr. Barbara McCaskill at bmccaski@uga.edu.