The Scottsboro Boys

1
The Scottsboro Boys

• When Harper Lee was a child, the Scottsboro
  Trials took place in Alabama.
• These trials are commonly thought to be the
  inspiration for To Kill a Mockingbird, though Lee
  denies this.
• Nine black youths (ages 12-19) were accused of
  raping two white women on a train.

2
The Scottsboro Boys

• On March 25, 1931, the nine black young men, as
  well as several white young men, rode a train
  illegally.
• The boys got into a fight, and the white boys
  were kicked off the train.
• They told station masters at the closest stop
  they had been beaten by the black boys. Police
  arranged to arrest them at the next station.

3
The Scottsboro Boys

• At the next stop, to avoid being punished
  themselves, Ruby Bates and Victoria Price both
  prostitutes -- claimed the black boys raped them.
• Bates later recanted her story.
• On March 30, 1931, all of the Scottsboro Boys
  were indicted by an all-white jury.
• Trials began a few days later, with several boys
  on trial at once.

4

• Ruby Bates and Victoria Price in 1931

5
The Scottsboro Boys

• Because their parents could not afford good
  lawyers, all were convicted and sentenced to
  death even 13-year-old Roy Wright.
• Wrights trial was declared a mistrial.
• The cases quickly became famous, causing rallies
  and riots.

6
The Scottsboro Boys

• The Alabama Supreme Court upheld the convictions
  of all the boys except Eugene Williams, who was
  tried as an adult at 13.

7
The Scottsboro Boys

• In November, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned
  all the convictions on the ground that due
  process was not followed.
• The State of Alabama had not provided legal
  counsel to any of the defendants.
• The new trials began in March 1933, with each
  defendant tried separately.
• There was a total of four rounds of trials.

8
The Scottsboro Boys

• Haywood Patterson sentenced to 75 years, escaped,
  wrote a book, later arrested.

9
The Scottsboro Boys

• Clarence Norris sentenced to death, sentence
  commuted, later wrote book about his ordeal.

10
The Scottsboro Boys

• Andy Wright sentenced to 99 years, paroled,
  arrested again.

11
The Scottsboro Boys

• Charlie Weems sentenced to 75 years, served 20.

12
The Scottsboro Boys

• Ozzie Powell pled guilty to assaulting a sheriff,
  rape charges were dropped, sentenced to 20 years
  after being shot in head during escape attempt.

13
The Scottsboro Boys

• Olen Montgomery had all charges dropped because
  he was nearly blind and had been found alone at
  the end of the car at the time of the alleged
  crime.

14
The Scottsboro Boys

• Willie Roberson had all charges dropped because
  he was suffering so badly from syphilis at the
  time of the alleged crime that he could hardly
  walk.

15
SummaryNine African American young men were
accused of raping two white women. In spite of
evidence of the mens innocence, 8 of the 9 were
sentenced to death. After many appeals, new
trials, and Supreme Court involvement, 4 were
freed and the rest served long prison terms.
16
There are several parallels between the
Scottsboro trials and the case that takes place
in To Kill a Mockingbird. Think about them.
Well come back to these notes when we near the
end of the book and revisit this set of trials.