Hundreds of Black men who say they were physically or sexually abused at two state-run reform schools during the height of Jim Crow in the 1960s are applying for restitution from the state.
Five-hundred boys were placed at what is now referred to as the Dozier School for Boys during that time; they were housed there for minor offenses like absenteeism from school or petty theft. Orphans and abandoned children were also sent to Dozier.
Victims have recently come forward to share accounts of violent beatings, sexual assault and even deaths they’ve witnessed. Almost 100 boys died between 1900 and 1973 at Dozier, some of them from gunshot wounds or blunt force trauma.
Some of the bodies were shipped back home while others were buried in unmarked graves, as reported by Associated Press. The outlet also shared that before the Dec. 31 deadline, the state received almost 1,000 applications for restitution from those held at the Dozier school and its sister school in Okeechobee, Fla.
In 2023, state lawmakers allocated $20 million to be divided equally among the the victims.
Bryant Middleton, one of the men who came forward and a war veteran, publicly spoke about what he endured in 2017. He was sent to Dozier between 1959 and 1961.
“I’ve seen a lot in my lifetime. A lot of brutality, a lot of horror, a lot of death,” Middleton said per the Florida Phoenix. “I would rather be sent back into the jungles of Vietnam than to spend one single day at the Florida School for Boys.”
Dozier was closed in 2011 by Florida officials following state and federal investigations documenting the abuses. Florida officials also formally apologized for the abuse. The film “Nickel Boys,” based on the incidents at Dozier, was released in 2024.