Scottsboro Boys
By: Phoebe and Sam
The Scottsboro Gazette
November 17, 1950
Everything You Need To know About the Scottsboro Boys
Background
By: Phoebe Weisiger-Vallas
The Scottsboro Boys were a group of nine black teenagers,
convicted on charges of raping two white women. The nine
were riding a train to Memphis, Tennessee, on March 25, 1931.
Four of the black teenagers were from Chattanooga, and were
going to Memphis to try to find jobs hauling logs for the
government. The other five were from Georgia. There were
also four young white people on the train, two male and two
female. One white person walked across the tank car where the
black teenagers were, and intentionally stepped on the hand of
one of the men. A fight immediately broke out and rocks were
thrown. The blacks eventually drove the two white men off the
train. The men went to the stationmaster in Stevenson,
Alabama, accusing the blacks of assault in what had been a twosided fight. The black men were tracked down imprisoned in
Scottsboro, Alabama, earning them the title Scottsboro Boys.
Later on, the two girls on the train, Ruby Bates and Victoria
Price, claimed they had been gang-raped by the nine black
teenagers. It later surfaced that Bates and Price were prostitutes,
and had made the claim to ensure safe crossing of the border.
The girls claimed that guns and knives had been present, and
Price and Bates were immediately taken to see Doctor R. R.
Bridges and Doctor Marvin Lynch.
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Trials and Sentences
By: Samuel Dorfman
The sentences for the Scottsboro boys were more than unfair. These men were
accused of something they didn't do, and it should've been obvious that they
were innocent. They were given unbelievable sentences basically just because
they were black. Their sentences ranged from death to 99 years in prison.
Patterson was the worst case of all of the Scottsboro Boys. He had to have three
different trials. In the first trial, which was a trial for all of the accused, he was
said to be guilty and sentenced to death, but the trial was later said to be unfair
by the United States Supreme Court, even after the Alabama Supreme Court
decided the trial was fair. In the second trial, he was again proclaimed guilty
due to the fact that he was black, regardless of the evidence. In the third trial,
he was convicted again, but this time to 75 years in prison. Norris also had
three trials. He was convicted in the first trial and sentenced to death. In his
second trial, Norris had his second trial with Patterson, and their judge acted
like a second prosecutor. They were both convicted, only to have their
convictions dropped. In the third trial for Norris, he was convicted and
sentenced to death. All of the other Scottsboro Boys had been convicted in the
first trial. Alabama decided to prosecute all of them again because of the first
trial being considered unfair. They rushed all of the trials, just having one after
another. First came Norris, who, as you already know, was sentenced to death.
Then came Andy Wright, who was convicted and sentenced to 99 years in
prison. Charlie Ween was convicted and sentenced to 75 years in prison. Ozzie
Powell's charges were dropped and then he was accused of assaulting a deputy.
The remaining four Scottsboro boys had their charges dropped. The five
convicted Scottsboro Boys eventually made it out of jail through parole or
escape by 1950.
Timeline
By: Phoebe and Sam
March
25, 1931
April,
1931
A fight erupts First trial
between nine for the
black men Scottsboro
and two
Boys, all
white men, convicted,
resulting in trial later
Ruby Bates said to be
and Victoria unfair
Price, two
white girls
present on
the train,
pressing
charges
March November,
30, 1933
1933
February
15, 1935
1936
1937
Patterson
Samuel
Retrials
Judge
& Norris's ignores
Leibowitz
start,
(two oldest Patterson's (defense lawyer) Patterson,
members verdict and confronts
Norris,
of the
orders Supreme Court Wright,
Scottsboro another
saying that
Ween,
boys)
Alabama's jury Powell
trial
second
selection was convicted,
trial, ends
unconstitutional remainder
in them
and biased, says of boys
being
they should all be have all
convicted
given a retrial charges
dropped
By
1950
All
eventually
make it out
of jail
through
parole and
escape
Pictures
Works Cited
"Scottsboro Boys Timeline". http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/scottsboro/
timeline/index.html. PBS, 1999. Format. February 2, 2015.
Linder, Douglas. "The Trials of the Scottsboro Boys". http://law2.umkc.edu/
faculty/projects/ftrials/scottsboro/SB_acct.html. Famous Trials. Format.
February 2, 2015.