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What happened to the ferry and how it impacted life in Gees Bend is legendary. The people of that isolated area depended on the ferry to take them to Camden, which is the county seat of Wilcox County.
The residents of Gees Bend shopped in Camden and took care of personal business there. But there was one thing they weren’t allowed to do and that was to register to vote.
The ferry service was discontinued in Gees Bend in the 60s. When Dr. King visited Gees Bend and encouraged the residents and reminded them that they were deserving of the right of American citizenship, voting, they were inspired to register to vote.
There is an account of the sheriff of Wilcox County, Sheriff Lummie, saying “We didn’t close the ferry because they were Black. We closed it because they forgot they were Black.”
That speaks volumes.
(Source: Article titled Crossing Over by Pulitzer Prize winning writer, J. R. Moehringer)