Petition out in support of Lee County Stockade women

LEESBURG — A petition on the change.org website has been established in support of the Lee County Stockade women receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom they were nominated for earlier this year.

The petition was set up last week by Boys and Girls Club of Americus-Sumter County CEO Brittany Dawson. It had about 290 signatures as of Tuesday.

Reps. Sanford Bishop, Hank Johnson Jr. and John Lewis, all from Georgia, sent a letter to President Obama nominating the women who — in the summer of 1963 — were imprisoned as young girls for their participation in the civil rights movement. In all, 15 girls ages 12-15 were confined in a stockade in Leesburg for two months under extremely poor conditions.

The girls were sent there, without the knowledge of their parents, after taking part in a 200-strong peaceful march from Friendship Baptist Church to the Martin Theater in Americus to purchase tickets at the theater’s white entrance as a protest against segregationist practices. The girls were incarcerated in Dawson overnight before being held in the stockade.

They were ultimately freed after Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee photographer Danny Lyon took photos that eventually circulated throughout the country. By that time, the girls had survived the deprivation of basic necessities including clean water, sleeping accommodations, proper nutrition and hygiene products.

“These innocent girls, who were arrested yet never charged with any illegal or criminal acts, suffered acute physical and psychological turmoil as a result of their struggle for equality and justice,” the letter sent to Obama said.

Shirley Green-Reese, a councilwoman and board president for the Boys and Girls Club in Americus, was one of the 15. She told The Albany Herald in June that Bishop has been very supportive of the group’s recognition and that Lewis was among the players instrumental in securing her and the other girls’ release.

She added that she was “tickled pink” over the consideration of such a prestigious award and still expresses gratitude to the number of people who worked to get her and her peers released in September 1963. If the nomination is approved, it would give peace of mind to the women, she said.

“It’s the greatest honor myself and the remaining Stockade Girls could receive,” she told The Herald. “It will help us to bring closure to our plight and get recognition (for our story) that is very long overdue.”

Nine of the 15 women are still alive. The nomination letter goes on to say that even after several decades, the women still live with the emotional scars and that their stories bring to light the impact the fight for civil rights had on children and young adults.

“We hope you agree that these courageous African-American women of Americus, Georgia, who have given so much to our nation and continue to fight for equality, are deserving of your consideration for the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” the letter concludes. “We respectfully urge you to consider our request and bestow this well-deserved honor upon the six women that have passed on and the nine living women of Leesburg Stockade. If they were to be selected, we believe it would send a powerful message about our nation’s fight for equality and justice that continues to this day.”

The goal is to get at least 500 signatures on the petition, which will be sent to Obama. It can be found at change.org/p/president-of-the-united-states-help-the-15-leesburg-stockade-women-receive-the-presidential-medal-of-freedom.