Radio Topia.

From PRX.

From PRX's Radiotopia, this is Radio Diaries.

I'm Joe Richmond.

60 years ago, in the summer of 1963, civil rights protests were picking up speed across the country.

Sometimes the marches included children, as young as 12 years old.

They protested like adults and were treated like adults by the police, attacked by police dogs

and fire hoses, and often sent to jail. Usually the children were bailed out by activist groups

or released to their parents. But on July 19th, a march to desegregate a theater in

America's Georgia went differently. The protest was full of young black girls. Many of them were

arrested, sent to jail, and released that evening. But some of the girls didn't return home that

night, or even a few days later. For most of that summer, their families had no idea where

they were. Today on the show, the Girls of the Leesburg Stockade. My name is Lulu Westbrook.

As a 12-year-old girl, I was involved in the civil rights movement. We were gunhole young people to want to change the system.

My name is James A. Westbrook. I am the brother of Lulu, and I was the field secretary for the student

nonviolent coordinating committee. When July, 1963 came around, I organized a march on Cotton Avenue in America's.

We had made up in our minds that we were going to segregate the theater.

My parents, they were passive about it because they had children to take care of.

My mother, she said to me, James, those people would kill you before let you do some of the

things that you have in mind. She said, but I want you to go and whatever happened,

make sure Lulu stays in your presence.

And I said to her, I will, Mom.

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