The Dozier School for Boys – Florida’s Forgotten Horror

In this powerful episode of Unsealed, Joel Chandler unpacks the brutal history of the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Florida. For over a century, the reform school operated under the guise of discipline and rehabilitation while hiding a legacy of abuse, forced labor, and systemic cover-ups.

Drawing on public records, survivor accounts, and decades of official investigations that led nowhere, Joel reveals how political leaders knew early on about the horrors inside Dozier but chose inaction. The episode explores how the institution was originally designed as a pipeline for free child labor, how boys were leased out as agricultural workers, and how decades of physical abuse, sexual violence, and suspicious deaths were swept under the rug.

This isn’t just history—it’s a story of power unchecked, of vulnerable children sacrificed to protect reputations, and of why open government remains essential to uncovering the truth.