STATION ONE
The Scottsboro Trials – Photo Responses
Photo #1: Observe the facial expressions of these men, the Scottsboro 9.
In your notes, answer the following questions:
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What do you notice about the expressions on the faces of the black men compared to the white men?
What do you see in their eyes?
How do the expressions of those standing differ from those sitting?
Analyze the power-dynamic in this photograph. Who holds the most power? How do you know?
At what point in the trial do you think this photo was taken? Why?
What is the overall mood of this photograph? Include any other observations you make.
If you saw this photograph as it was first printed in the 1930s, what would you think the outcome of the trial
would be? Why?
STATION TWO
The Scottsboro Trials – Photo Responses
Photo #2: Observe the facial expressions of these men, the Scottsboro 9.
In your notes, answer the following questions:
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What do you notice about the expressions on the faces of the black men compared to the white men?
What do you see in their eyes?
How do the expressions of those in the front differ from those in the back?
Analyze the power-dynamic in this photograph. Who holds the most power? How do you know?
At what point in the trial do you think this photo was taken? Why?
What is the overall mood of this photograph? Include any other observations you make.
If you saw this photograph as it was first printed in the 1930s, what would you think the outcome of the trial
would be? Why?
STATION THREE - Timeline
Directions:
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Review the Timeline of Historical Events below.
In your notes, create your own timeline – include FIVE of what you believe to be the most important facts.
March 25,
1931
Posse stops Southern Railroad train in Paint Rock, Alabama. Scottsboro boys are arrested on
charges of assault. Rape charges are added against all nine boys after accusations are made
by Victoria Price and Ruby Bates.
March 26,
1931
Scottsboro boys are nearly lynched by crowd of over 100 gathered around Scottsboro's jail.
March 30,
1931
Grand jury indicts the nine Scottsboro boys for rape.
April 6, 1931
Trials begin in Scottboro before Judge A. E. Hawkins.
Clarence Norris, Charlie Weems, Haywood Patterson, Olen Montgomery, Ozie Powell, Willie
Roberson, Eugene Williams, and Andy Wright are tried and convicted, and sentenced to
April 7-9,1931
death. The trial of Roy Wright ends in a mistrial when some jurors hold out for a death
sentence even though the prosecution asked for life imprisonment.
April -Dec.,
1931
NAACP and International Labor Defense (ILD) battle for the right to represent the Scottsboro
boys.
June 22, 1931
Executions are stayed pending appeal to Alabama Supreme Court.
July 10, 1931
On the date first set for their executions, the Scottsboro boys listen to the execution of Willie
Stokes, the first of ten blacks to be executed at the prison over the next ten years. After
hearing gruesome reports of the execution, many of the boys report nightmares or sleepless
nights.
January, 1932 NAACP withdraws from case.
January 5,
1932
Ruby Bates, in a letter to an Earl Streetman (her current boyfriend), denies that she was
raped.
March, 1932
Alabama Supreme Court, by a vote of 6-1, affirms the convictions of seven of the boys. The
conviction of Eugene Williams is reversed on the grounds that he was a juvenile under state
law in 1931.
May, 1932
The U. S. Supreme Court announces that it will review the Scottsboro cases.
November,
1932
The Supreme Court, by a vote of 7-2, reverses the convictions of the Scottsboro boys in
Powell vs. Alabama. Grounds for reversal are that Alabama failed to provide adequate
assistance of counsel as required by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.
January, 1933
Samuel S. Leibowitz, a New York lawyer, is retained by the ILD to defend the Scottsboro
boys.
March 27,
1933
Haywood Patterson's second trial begins in Decatur before judge James Horton.
April 9, 1933
Haywood Patterson found guilty by jury and sentenced to death in the electric chair.
April 18, 1933
Judge Horton postpones the trials of the other Scottsboro boys because of dangerously high
local tensions.
May 7, 1933
In one of many protests around the nation, thousands march in Washington protesting the
Alabama trials.
June 22, 1933 Judge Horton sets aside Haywood Patterson's conviction and grants a new trial.
October 20,
1933
The Scottsboro cases are removed from Judge Horton's jurisdiction and transferred to Judge
William Callahan's court.
Nov.-Dec.,
1933
Haywood Patterson and Clarence Norris are tried for rape, convicted, and sentenced to death.
June 12, 1934
Judge Horton, who had faced no opposition in his previous race, is defeated in his bid for reelection.
June, 1934
Alabama Supreme Court affirms the convictions of Haywood and Norris.
October,
1934
Two lawyers are charged with attempting to bribe Victoria Price in order to change her
testimony.
January, 1935 The U. S. Supreme Court agrees to review the most recent Scottsboro convictions.
The U.S. Supreme Court overturns the convictions of Norris and Patterson because African
April 1, 1935 Americans were excluded from sitting on the juries in their trials. Patterson v. State of
Alabama, 294 U.S. 600 (1935); Norris v. State of Alabama, 294 U.S. 587 (1935)
December,
1935
The Scottsboro Defense Committee is organized.
January 23,
1936
Haywood Patterson is convicted for a fourth time of rape and is sentenced to 75 years in
prison.
January 24,
1936
Ozzie Powell is shot in the head by Sheriff Jay Sandlin while attacking Deputy Sheriff Edgar
Blalock.
December,
1936
Thomas Knight meets with Samuel Leibowitz in New York to discuss a possible compromise.
June 14, 1937 Conviction of Haywood Patterson is upheld by the Alabama Supreme Court.
July, 1937
Clarence Norris is convicted of rape and sentenced to death. Andy Wright is convicted and
sentenced to 99 years for rape. Charlie Weems is convicted and sentenced to 75 years. Ozzie
Powell pleads guilty to assaulting the sheriff and is sentenced to 20 years.
July 24, 1937
Roy Wright, Eugene Williams, Olen Montgomery and Willie Roberson were released after all
charges were dropped against them.
October 26,
1937
The U.S. Supreme Court declines to review the Patterson and Norris convictions.
June, 1938
Alabama Supreme Court upholds the death sentence for Clarence Norris.
July 5, 1938
Clarence Norris's death sentence is reduced to life in prison by Governor Graves.
August, 1938
Alabama Pardon Board declines to pardon Patterson and Powell.
October, 1938 Pardon Board denies the pardon applications of Norris, Weems, and Roy Wright.
October, 1938 Governor Graves interviews Scottsboro boys.
November,
1938
Governor Graves denies all pardon applications.
September,
1943
Charlie Weems is paroled.
January, 1944 Norris and Andy Wright are paroled.
September,
1944
Norris and Wright leave Montgomery in violation of their paroles.
October, 1944 Norris is returned to prison.
June, 1946
Ozzie Powell is paroled.
September,
1946
Norris, paroled again, leaves Alabama.
October, 1946 Andy Wright is returned to Kilby prison.
July, 1948
Haywood Patterson escapes from prison.
June, 1950
Andy Wright is paroled. FBI arrests Patterson, but Michigan's governor refuses extradition to
Alabama.
December,
1950
Patterson is involved in a barroom fight resulting in the death of another man. Haywood is
charged with murder.
September,
1951
Patterson is convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 6 to 15 years. He dies of cancer less
than a year later.
October, 1976 Clarence Norris is pardoned by Alabama Governor George Wallace.
July, 1977
Victoria Price's suit against NBC for its movie "Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys," which
she claimed defamed her and invaded her privacy, is dismissed. Price dies five years later.
Jan. 23, 1989
Clarence Norris, the last surviving Scottsboro boy, dies at age 76.
Next Steps:
Describe in your notes, your overall response to the timeline.
 What stands out to you as “weird” or “messed up”?
 What stands out to you as being “cool” or “interesting”?
 Why?
NOTE - Timeline Model:
Title of Timeline
Description(s)
Earliest Date
Latest Date
STATION FOUR – In Their Own Words
Directions: Read through the below actual quotations from the trial. In your notes, choose THREE to discuss – following
the question frames below.
"There were six to me and three to her....It took three of them to hold me. One was holding my legs
and the other had a knife to my throat while the other one ravished me." --Victoria Price (Carter, 58)
"When I put this in you and pull it out you will have a negro baby." --Victoria Price “quoting” her
alleged attacker (Alabama v Patterson, Record)
"I was scared before, but it wasn't nothing to how I felt now. I knew if a white woman accused a
black man of rape, he was as good as dead." --Clarence Norris, one of the Scottsboro 9 (Goodman, 5)
"The courtroom was one big smiling white face." --Haywood Patterson, one of the Scottsboro 9
(Goodman, 6)
"I saw all of them have intercourse; I saw all that with my own eyes." --Scottsboro boy Roy Wright,
white, age 13, testifying in the first trial
"I am speaking with feeling, and I know it, because I am feeling it. I absolutely have no patience with
the mob spirit, and that spirit that would charge the guilt or innocence of any being without knowing
of their guilt or innocence." --Judge James Horton addressing court after hearing reports of plans for a
lynching (Alabama v Patterson, Record, 3/31/33)
"If you ever saw those creatures, those bigots whose mouths are slits in their faces, whose eyes
popped out at you like frogs, whose chins dripped tobacco juice, bewhiskered and filthy, you would
not ask how they could do it." -- Defense Attoney Samuel Leibowitz commenting on the jury verdict in
Alabama v Patterson (NY Times, 4/11/33)
"The testimony of the prosecutor in this case is not only unproven, but it also bears on its face
indications of improbability and is contradicted by other evidence, and in addition thereto the
evidence greatly serves in favor of the defendant. It therefore becomes the duty of the Court under
the law to grant the motion made in this case." --Judge Horton granting the defense motion to set
aside the death sentence and verdict in Alabama v Patterson (Record, 6/22/33)
"There shouldn't be any trial for them damn niggers-- thirty cents worth of rope would do the work
and it wouldn't cost the county much." --Decatur lunchroom proprietor (Goodman, 211)
"We all have a passion, all the men in this courtroom, and that is to protect the womanhood of the
state of Alabama." -- Prosecutor Knight addressing the jury in the third Patterson trial, Nov. 30, 1933
"He couldn't get us to the chair fast enough." -- Haywood Patterson commenting on Judge Callahan (NY
Times, 1/22/36)
"Do not quibble (fuss) over the evidence: Say to yourselves we're tired of this job and put it behind
you. Get it done quick and protect the fair womanhood of this state."-- Prosecutor Hutson addressing
the jury in the fourth Patterson trial (NY Times, 1/23/36)
STATION FIVE – Letter from Ruby
Directions: Read through the below actual letter from Ruby Bates, sent to her then-boyfriend. Then, answer the
following questions in your notes.
LETTER FROR RUBY BATES TO EARL STREETMAN (**handwritten)
Jan 5 1932
Huntsville, Ala
215 Connelly Aly
Dearest Earl
I want to make a statment too you Victoria Price is a goddam lie about those
negroes jassing me those policement made me tell a lie that is my statement because
I want too clear myself that is all too if you want to believe, ok. If not that is ok.
You will be sorry someday if you had to stay in jail with eight Negroes you would
tell a lie two. those Negroes did not touch me or those white boys. i hope you will
believe me the law don't. i love you better than Victoria does ore any body else in
the world. that is why i am telling you of this thing. i was drunk at the time and did
not know what i was doing. I know it was wrong to let those Negrroes die on
account of me. i hope you will believe me. I was jazed but those white boys jazed
me. i wish those Negores are not burnt on account of me. it is these white boys
fault. that is my statement. and that is all i know. i hope you tell the law hope you
will answer.
Jan 5, 1932
Huntsville, Ala
215 Connelly ally
Ruby Bates
P.S. this is the one time i might tell a lie but it is the truth so god help me.
Ruby Bates
Reading Questions:
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What can you infer about Ruby Bates personality, based upon her writing? Your response should discuss both
Ruby’s writing style, and her overall account of the situation.
STATION SIX – EOC Question Prep
Directions: Review your weekend reading packet on The Scottsboro Trials, some of which is copied below. Then, choose
FIVE EOC-style question stems to ask about your reading. In your notes, you should write your FIVE EOC-style question
stems. Then, create four multiple choice answers for your reading – with only one being the correct answer 
EOC Question Stem & Multiple Choice Answer – Model (see Writing Practice Handout):
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Which of the following tone words best describes Miss Hollace Ransdell’s opinion of Victoria Price’s personality?
A. Respectful
B. Angry
C. Polite
D. Judgmental
REPORT ON THE SCOTTSBORO, ALA. CASE
made by
Miss Hollace Ransdall
representing the
American Civil Liberties Union
May 27, 1931
The Return to Huntsville
…around ten o'clock on the morning of March 25. Boarding an oil tanker at first, they later climbed
over into a gondola, or open topped freight car used for carrying gravel. The car was partly filled with gravel.
Here they met seven white boys and began talking to them Ruby declared in a private interview later that she
did not speak to them but stayed in one end of the car by herself, while Victoria was talking, laughing and
singing with the white boys in the other end of the car. Victoria, however, said that both she and Ruby had
talked to the boys.
As the freight neared Stevenson, less than half the way to Huntsville, Victoria testified that the 12 Negroes
climbed into the gondola in which the two girls were riding with the seven white youths, walking over the top
of a box car in front and jumping into the gondola. Ruby said in a personal interview later that she did not
know how many colored boys were in the crowd. She said she was too frightened to count them. The Negroes
gave the number of their gang as 15. Victoria maintained emphatically that there were 12.
The Alleged Rape
According to Victoria's testimony, a Negro identified at the trial as Charlie Weems came first waving a pistol,
followed by the others in the crowd. A mile or two past Stevenson, Victoria said that the Negroes began
fighting with the white boys, shouting "unload, you white sons-of-bitches" and forcing the white boys to jump
from the freight which was moving at a fast rate of speed. One of the white boys, Orvil Gilley, who said he was
afraid to jump for fear he would be killed, was allowed by the Negroes to remain. One of the Negroes testified
that he pulled Gilley back upon the car as he was hanging over the edge for fear he might fall between the cars
and be killed. The local papers reporting the trial, however, claimed that he was forced to remain out of
viciousness to witness the alleged assault.
Victoria's story continued that while the freight was moving rapidly between Stevenson and Paint Rock, a
distance of approximately 38 miles, the Negroes having driven the seven white boys from the train, attacked the
two girls. Victoria Price testified that six raped her and six, Ruby Bates. Three of the ones who attacked Ruby
got off before the train stopped at Paint Rock, Victoria said. She alleged that Charlie Weems was the leader and
carried a pistol, but that Clarence Norris was the first one to attack her. He was followed by four others who
took turns holding, she claimed, and then the leader, Weems, as the last one, was in the process of raping her
when the train stopped at Paint Rock and the Negroes were captured by the posse who had been notified by
telegraph from Stevenson that the Negroes were on the train.
The white gang, after having been put off the train, had informed the station master at Stevenson that the
Negroes and the two white girls were on the freight. The station agent telegraphed ahead to Scottsboro, a
station about 18 miles west of Stevenson, to have the train stopped, but the freight had already passed there, so
Paint Rock, some 20 miles farther, was notified by telegraph.
Here nine of the Negroes were seized by an armed posse of officers and men. The other Negroes had left the
train before it arrived at Paint Rock and nothing more has been heard from them. A report appeared in the press
some days after the trial that two Negroes were captured and an attempt made to identify them as members of
the crowd of nine Negroes in the Scottsboro case. Nothing more was said about it, so the attempt apparently
fell through.
Plausibility of the Charges Questioned
The International Labor Defense, which had representatives on the scene at the time of the trial in Scottsboro,
and whose attorney, George Chamlee, of Chattanooga, later made investigations of various phases of the case
not brought out at the trial, claims that when the two girls were taken from the train at Paint Rock, they made no
charges against the Negroes, until after they were taken into custody; that their charges were made after they
had found out the spirit of the armed men that came to meet the train and catch the Negroes, and that they were
swept into making their wholesale accusation against the Negroes merely by assenting to the charges as
presented by the men who seized the nine Negroes.
There is no way of proving this conclusively, but from the interview I had with the two girls separately
several weeks after the trial, I would say that there is a strong possibility of truth in this statement. The talk
with Victoria Price, particularly, convinced me that she was the type who welcomes attention and publicity at
any price. The price in this case meant little to her, as she has no notions of shame connected with sexual
intercourse in any form and was quite unbothered in alleging that she went through such an experience as the
charges against the nine Negro lads imply. Having been in direct contact from the cradle with the institution of
prostitution as a side-line necessary to make the meager wages of a mill worker pay the rent and buy the
groceries, she has no feeling of revulsion against promiscuous sexual intercourse such as women of easier lives
might suffer. It is very much a matter of the ordinary routine of life to her, known in both Huntsville and
Chattanooga as a prostitute herself.
The younger girl, Ruby Bates, found herself from the beginning pushed into the background by the more
bubbling, pert personality of Victoria. She was given little chance to do anything but follow the lead of
Victoria, so much quicker and garrulous. When I talked with her alone she showed resentment against the
position into which Victoria had forced her, but did not seem to know what to do except to keep silent and let
Victoria do the talking. The general opinion of the authorities at the trial was that Ruby was slow and stupid,
but that Victoria was a shrewd young woman whose testimony amounted to something because she got the
point at once of what was needed to hurry the trial through so that sentence of death could be pronounced
quickly. From my many talks with Judge Hawkins, who presided at the trial; with Dr. Bridges who examined
the girls, and with other officials, I believe any unbiased person would have come to the conclusion that this
was the basis of their judgment of the two girls as witnesses.
English I Item Writing Practice
For the selection you read, write one question from each type set below. Write four
multiple choice options. Don’t make your answers too easy. You may have answers that are
similar, but remember that you always want the student to choose the BEST answer.
1. Items addressing the meaning of the overall passage:
 Which best states the theme of this selection?
 What is the main purpose of this selection?
 What is the main idea of this selection?
 Which of the following best expresses the writer’s overall opinion of ______?
2. Items addressing use of “context clues to discern meaning”: Select words that proficient
9th graders would not be expected to know.
 In paragraph 6, what does erudition mean?
 Based on the context of paragraphs 1 and 2, what does veracity mean?
3. Items addressing an analysis of the relationship of a part of the whole work or the impact
of stylistic and literary devices on the passage.
 The author uses words such as whizzed, flew, and sparked to emphasize which of the
following?
 The author’s tone produces which of the following overall effects?
 What is the purpose of opening the article with an anecdote about _________?
 How does ______ provide an effective ending to the selection?
 For what purpose does the author include details such as ___________?
 What is the effect of the use of analogies throughout the selection?
 What does the poet suggest by using the title?
4. Items addressing effect of distinct literary elements within context of the text.
 In paragraph 3, which words best describe Joe’s tone?
 Which is the best statement of the theme of the selection?
 What can a reader infer about ___________’s feelings about __________?
 What makes _______________ an effective simile?
 What does _______________ symbolize?
 What makes _______________ ironic?
 What effect is achieved through the use of words such as downy and hush?
** Lastly, choose one question to write, based on the “type” of selection you are reading.
5a. Expressive Type (memoirs, autobiographies, diaries, letters, monologues, etc.)
 How does the author emphasize the significance of the _________ incident?
 How does the author create a vivid impression of the setting?
 What details are used to create a sense of the setting?
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


How does the author create a sense of the narrator’s voice?
Which words does the author use to emphasize his attitude toward _____?
Which conflict is most closely related to the theme of the selection?
Which quotation best suggests the author’s fondness for ________?
5b. Informational Type (instructions, histories, directions, business letters, reports, articles,
and research)
 If the author were to include a graphic to help clarify the information in the article,
which of the following information would be the best addition?
 What does the author accomplish by including the paragraph on _____?
 Which information best supports the main point of this selection?
 Which statement best reveals the author’s attitude toward his topic?
 In paragraph 20, what is the effect of including the description of ______?
 What additional instructions could be included to help the reader _________?
 What does the author show by including the information about __________?
5c. Argumentative Type (advertisements, debates, letters of complaint, editorials, sermons,
speeches, etc.)
 How does the author develop support for his position?
 What additional information could the author have included to support his ideas?
 Which of the following is an example of the author’s bias?
 What does the author accomplish by including the paragraph on _____?
5d. Critical Type (media and book reviews, essays that provide critical analysis of literature,
media, ideas, people, and or language, etc.)
 Which of the following is an example of the author’s bias?
 What does the writer appear to dislike most about the film?
 Why is the writer critical of Jones’ poetry?
 What does the writer appear to appreciate most about ________?
 According to the reviewer, what best explains why __________ is classified as _____?
OR
5e. Literary Selection Type (literary analysis of genres, concepts, elements, and terms)
 What is the most important conflict in __________?
 Which best describes the relationship between _________ and __________?
 How does the repetition of __________ impact the theme of the selection?
 Which of the following best describes the similarity in themes between the two
selections?
 Which of the following best describes the tone of this selection?
 What effect does the author achieve with the imagery in lines 5-8?
 The use of parallel verbs in lines 28-30 emphasizes which of the following?
 What does the poet suggest by using the title ________?