The Scottsboro Boys
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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.
The Scottsboro Boys
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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.
The Scottsboro Boys
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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.
Ruby Bates and Victoria Price in 1931
The Scottsboro Boys
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Because their parents could not afford
good lawyers, all were convicted and
sentenced to death – even 13-year-old
Roy Wright.
Wright’s trial was declared a mistrial.
The cases quickly became famous,
causing rallies and riots.
The Scottsboro Boys
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The Alabama Supreme Court upheld the
convictions of all the boys except Eugene
Williams, who was tried as an adult at 13.
The Scottsboro Boys
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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.
The Scottsboro Boys
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Haywood Patterson sentenced to 75 years,
escaped, wrote a book, later arrested.
The Scottsboro Boys
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Clarence Norris sentenced to death,
sentence commuted, later wrote book
about his ordeal.
The Scottsboro Boys
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Andy Wright sentenced to 99 years,
paroled, arrested again.
The Scottsboro Boys
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Charlie Weems sentenced to 75 years,
served 20.
The Scottsboro Boys
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Ozzie Powell pled guilty to assaulting a
sheriff, rape charges were dropped,
sentenced to 20 years after being shot in
head during escape attempt.
The Scottsboro Boys
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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.
The Scottsboro Boys
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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.
Summary:
Nine African American young men
were accused of raping two white
women. In spite of evidence of the
men’s 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.
There are several parallels
between the Scottsboro trials and
the case that takes place in To Kill
a Mockingbird.
Think about them.
* We’ll come back to these notes
when we near the end of the book
and revisit this set of trials.