Boys' Clothing

The case of the Scottsboro Boys arose in Alabama during the 1930s, when nine black youths ranging in age from thirteen to nineteen, were accused of raping two white women, one of whom would later recant. more...

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The trials, in which the boys were convicted and sentenced to death by all-white juries despite the weak and contradictory testimonies of the witnesses, are regarded as one of the travesties of the United States justice system. The case quickly became an international cause célebre and the boys were represented by the Communist Party's legal defense organization. The death sentences, originally scheduled to be carried out quickly, were postponed pending appeals that took the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the sentences were overturned. Despite the fact that one of the women later denied being raped, the retrials resulted in convictions. All of the defendants were eventually acquitted, paroled, or pardoned (besides one who simply escaped), some after serving years in prison. The Scottsboro case later inspired Harper Lee's famous work, To Kill a Mockingbird.

History

On March 25, 1931, a fight broke out between black and white hobos riding in a car of a Southern Railway freight train. All of the white men and boys, except Orville Gilley were forced to jump off. When the train stopped in Paint Rock, Alabama, the nine black youths were arrested on charges of assault. Two young white women dressed in boys' clothing, Victoria Price, aged twenty-one, and Ruby Bates, aged seventeen, were also found catching a free ride on the freight train. All were taken to Scottsboro, Alabama, the Jackson County seat. The two girls, unemployed mill workers and part-time prostitutes from nearby Huntsville, told authorities they had been brutally gang raped by the nine black youths taken into custody in Paint Rock.

Upon the allegations of the two women, a lynch mob gathered around the jail, prepared to storm and kill the youths. Given the situation, the governor of Alabama, Benjamin M. Miller, was forced to call in the National Guard to protect the jail. Authorities pleaded against mob violence by promising speedy trials and executions. On March 30, the so-called Scottsboro Boys were indicted by a Grand Jury. In April, all were convicted and sentenced to death, except for one thirteen year old boy, who was sentenced to life in prison. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the International Labor Defense (legal arm of the Communist Party USA) both wanted to handle the defense and struggled to gain and retain the support of the boys and their parents; the ILD eventually won that battle and the NAACP dropped out of the case in January, 1932. The case quickly became widely known, with rallies held in northern U.S. cities, international press coverage and thousands of letters written in support of the defendants.

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