Timeline 1929-1941
It is essential to understand the social and economic climate of the 1930’s and the changes
made throughout the next thirty years in order to fully understand To Kill a Mockingbird .
1929 The stock market crashes, marking the end of six
years of unparalleled prosperity for most sectors of the
American economy. An estimated $30 billion in stock
values “disappeared” by mid- November.
 1930 More than 3.2 million people are unemployed
 1931 “Food riots” begin to break out in parts of the US.
The beginning of The Scottsboro Incident.

The Scottsboro Boys
On March 25, 1931, several groups of white and black men and two white women were
riding the rails from Tennessee to Alabama in various open and closed railroad cars
designed to carry freight and gravel. At one point on the trip, the black and white men
began fighting. One white man would later testify that the African-Americans started the
fight, and another white man would later claim that the white men had started the fight. In
any case, most of the white men were thrown off the train. When the train arrived in Paint
Rock, Alabama, all those riding the rails-including nine black men were arrested. Upon
leaving the train, the two women immediately accused the African-American men of raping
them in an open railroad car. The trial began on April 6, 1931, and on April 9 of the same
year, eight of the men were sentenced to death. On November 7, 1932, the US Supreme
Court ordered new trials because they had not had adequate legal representation. The new
trail began in 1933 and the first defendant, Haywood Patterson, was again found guilty and
sentenced to execution. Only days before the execution, Judge James Horton overturned
the conviction and granted a new trial. Despite the judge’s actions, a second defendant,
Clarence Norris, was tried and found guilty. During this time all of the defendants remained
in prison, and not for two more years was any further action taken. Finally, on April1, 1935,
the US Supreme Court reversed the convictions of Patterson and Norris. No surprise to
anyone, In 1936, Patterson was again tried and convicted of rape. In December 1936,
Scottsboro Boys
While Patterson’s appeal was still pending and the other eight men awaited their
trials, a compromise was met between the lawyers. They decided to drop the
prosecutions of three and give the others no more than ten years for either rape or
assault. Before it could be implemented, the compromise was thrown into doubt by
the sudden death of Thomas Knight, prosecutor, and one week later the judge
announced that the next round of trials would begin in July.
Seven of the nine Scottsboro Boys had been held in jail for over six years without
trial. In July of 1937, the verdict was in = Andy Wright received ninety-nine years,
Charlie Weems received seventy-five years, Ozie Powell’s case was dropped
because he was now being charged for assaulting a deputy. Next came the big
news; all charges were being dropped against the remaining four defendants.
Either through paroles or escapes, all of the Scottsboro Boys found their way out of
Alabama. Charles Weems was paroled in 1943, Ozie Powell and Clarence Norris in
1946, and Andy Wright in 1950. Haywood Patterson managed a dramatic escape in
1948. Patterson and Norris went on to participate in the writing of books about their
lives. Scottsboro Boy and The Last of the Scottsboro Boys are still in publication.
Timeline continued…
•1931 – 1950 – The Scottsboro Boys
•1932 – Lindbergh Kidnapping & Hitler
Comes to power/Earhart flies solo
•1933 – Prohibition Ends
•1934 – Alcatraz Opens
•1935 – Social Security begins
•1936 – Hoover Dam is completed
•1937 – Golden Gate Bridge completed
1938 – Minimum wage is set .25 per hour
1939 – Gone with the Wind premiers
1940 – Churchill becomes Prime Minister
1941 – Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
“Nelle” Harper Lee
Harper Lee was born in 1926 to a modest family in
rural Monroeville, Alabama. She was considered a
tomboy and a precocious reader. She studied at
Oxford University and eventually moved to New
York in 1949. She loved to write and published To
Kill a Mockingbird in 1960. It became a popular
success and was made into a motion picture in
1962. Lee is noted for her time spent with Truman
Capote and their research of the Cutter family
murders.
Harper Lee’s Childhood
Grew up in 1930’s – rural southern Alabama town
 Father – Amasa Lee – attorney who served in state
legislature in Alabama
 Older brother and young neighbor (Truman Capote) are
playmates
 She was an avid reader
 She was six years old when Scottsboro trials were
meticulously covered in state and local newspapers

Scout Finch’s Childhood
 Grew up in 1930’s
- rural southern Alabama
town
 Father – Atticus Finch – attorney who served in
the state legislature in Alabama
 Oder brother and young neighbor (Dill) are
playmates
 Scout reads before she enters school; reads
Mobile Register newspaper in the first grade
 Six years old when the trial of Tom Robinson
takes place
The Scottsboro Trails
 Took place in the 1930’s in northern Alabama
 Began with a charge of rape made by white
women against African American men
 The poor white status of the accusers was a
critical issue
 A central figure was a heroic judge, a member of
the AL Bar who overturned a guilty jury verdict
against African American defendants.
The Scottsboro Trials Continued
 The first juries failed to include any African
Americans, a situation which caused the U.S.
Supreme Court to overturn the guilty verdict
 The jury ignored evidence, for example, that the
women suffered no injuries.
 Attitudes about Southern women and poor
whites complicated the trial.
Tom Robinson’s Trial
 Occurs in the 1930’s in southern Alabama
 Begins with a charge of rape made by a white
woman against an African American man
 The poor white status of Mayella is a critical
issue
 A central figure is Atticus (lawyer, legislator and
member of the AL Bar) who defends an African
American man
Tom Robinson’s Trial Continued
 Atticus arouses anger in the community in trying
to defend Tom Robinson
 The verdict is rendered by a jury of poor white
residents of Old Sarum
 The jury ignores evidence, for example, that
Tom has a useless left arm