NAACP Legal Defense Gains Freedom for Americus Four

Document text

The following text has been generated automatically during the document scanning process. It may contain errors, omissions, or incorrect formatting. Please refer to the PDF document if this text is not usable.

Download

By downloading, publishing, or reusing the Materials outside of the Website, you hereby confirm and attest that you have read and agree to the LDF Archival Collection Terms of Use linked below. We draw your attention to the following:

For those Materials owned by LDF, your use of the Material outside the Site is solely for one or more of the following (the “Permitted Purposes”):

Non-commercial research and private study;
Teaching, scholarship and instruction (including distance learning);
Non-commercial print and non-commercial online use;
Criticism, comment or news reporting; or
For people with visual disabilities (See Section 121 of the Copyright Act).
For those Materials not owned by LDF you understand that:
- It is your responsibility to determine whether the way you plan to use the materials falls within the copyright exception of Fair Use.
- For any use outside of Fair Use, it is your responsibility to seek and obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders.

LDF hereby grants you the right to use LDF owned Materials for the Permitted Purposes without seeking further permission from LDF.

If you publish or redistribute any Materials (including excerpts and quotes), you must include a credit line and/or proper citation to the source of the Material. However, you may not use the name of LDF in any manner which creates any false association between you and LDF or that incorrectly implies any sponsorship or endorsement of you by LDF.

NOTICE: Uses that do not comply with these Terms or that do not fall under Fair Use (or another exception) may make you liable for copyright infringement.

Read the full LDF Archival Collection Terms of Use Here.

I agree to the terms and conditions for use of this content.

If you would like to use this content in other ways, contact us at .

Collection
- Press Releases
Creator
- LDF
Taxonomy
Identifier
- c4184467-bd92-ee11-be37-6045bddb811f

Cite this item

Press Releases, Loose Pages. NAACP Legal Defense Gains Freedom for Americus Four, 1963. c4184467-bd92-ee11-be37-6045bddb811f. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/ce852267-51d0-48e6-a114-21dbb85c1531/naacp-legal-defense-gains-freedom-for-americus-four. Accessed November 23, 2025.

Copied!

    PRESS RELEASE 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND 
10 COLUMBUS CIRCLE * NEWYORK19,N.Y. © JUdson 6-8397 

DR. ALLAN KNIGHT CHALMERS JACK GREENBERG CONSTANCE BAKER MOTLEY 

President Director-Counsel Associate Counsel 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE GAINS 
FREEDOM FOR AMERICUS FOUR 

November 2, 1963 

AMERICUS, Ga.--NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorneys won release here 

this week of four youths jailed since August 8th. Three of them 

faced the charge of insurrection, a capital offense in this state. 

The youths had been active in the drive to win voting rights 

and use of public accommodations for Negro citizens in this tension 

filled city. 

Jack Greenberg, Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund, 

which was representing the youths in four simultaneous court actions 

at the time of their release here November lst, made the announce- 

ment, 

He said that a three-judge Federal District Court, sitting in 

Americus, enjoined prosecution of the charges of unlawful assembly 

and insurrection, ruling them unconstitutional. 

Mr. Greenberg also authorized dispatch of $12,000.00 bail bond 

money to Constance Baker Motley, Legal Defense Associate Counsel, 

who was on the scene. 

The students, Donald Harris, John Perdew, Ralph Allen and 

Thomas McDaniel went free, 

Legal Defense Fund attorneys C. B. King of Albany, Donald 

Hollowell of Atlanta, Mrs, Motley and Michael Meltsner of New York 

City, escorted the youths from jail. 

~-30-- 

Editor's Note: 
Full story was released October 30, including 
comprehensive background chronology

Copyright notice

This collection and the tools to navigate it (the “Collection”) are available to the public for general educational and research purposes, as well as to preserve and contextualize the history of the content and materials it contains (the “Materials”). Like other archival collections, such as those found in libraries, LDF owns the physical source Materials that have been digitized for the Collection; however, LDF does not own the underlying copyright or other rights in all items and there are limits on how you can use the Materials. By accessing and using the Material, you acknowledge your agreement to the Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Materials.

Additional info

To the extent that LDF includes information about the Materials’ origins or ownership or provides summaries or transcripts of original source Materials, LDF does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy of such information, transcripts or summaries, and shall not be responsible for any inaccuracies.

NAACP Legal Defense Gains Freedom for Americus Four

Collection

Creator

Taxonomy

Identifier

Cite this item

Copyright notice

Additional info

You may also be interested in