It was often used as a veiled threat to the youth in Florida for over 111 years. There were whispers that you didn’t want to get in trouble; otherwise, you might get sent off to the Dozier School.
The Explore With Us YouTube channel secured footage from the Standard Stealth channel to share an inside look at some of the many horrors that occurred at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys.
The institution was inaugurated in 1900. It was initially sanctioned by the government to help keep youth who had experienced trouble with the law “separated from older more vicious associates.” But things certainly didn’t turn out that way.
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Boys could be sent to this reform school for a plethora of reasons — everything from theft to murder to just simple disobedience, like skipping school.
From very early on, there were reports that students would be chained up, and in 1903 an investigation led to the discovery that the school was allegedly using leg irons on students. These reports didn’t lead to the school being shut down, though.
Charles Fudge spoke to Explore With Us about being sent to the reform school in Marianna, Florida, with his brother when he was 12, from 1960 to 1961. When Charles first arrived, he actually found the 1,400-acre campus to be quite beautiful.
The second day Charles was on campus, though, he happened to get into a fight with another young boy, and he got sent to a small building on campus called the “White House.” Inside, Charles remembers that he received the most “severe beating of [his life].”
That is just the beginning of the many heinous and abusive acts that happened at the Dozier School. To learn more, including how many graves were later dug up on campus, check out the video.
