Scottsboro Boys

Scottsboro Boys Arrested on charges of assault and rape

Mar 25, 1931

1931 Trials The Southern Train stops in Paint Rock, Alabama. The nine boys are arrested for the assault of seven white men. Two white women added after the incident that they were also raped by the nine black men.

The Train according to Victoria Price

Mar 25, 1931

1931 Trials Victoria Price testified that 12 negroe boys got on to the train in Huntsville, Alabama. VIctiora and Ruby Bates were also on the train, with seven white men they met earlier that day.

Victoria Price's account of the fight

Mar 25, 1931

1931 Trials According to Victoria's testimony, Charlie Weems first came waving a pistol, then the boys started fighting the white guys. The Scottsboro boys then forced the white boys to jump from then train.

Victoria Price's account of the rape

Mar 25, 1931

1931 Trials Victoria Price testified that six raped her and six raped Ruby Bates. Three of the ones who attacked Ruby got off before the train stopped at Paint Rock.

Stopping the Train

Mar 25, 1931

1931 Trials The white gang, after being thrown off the train, had told the station master at Stevenson that the boys and the two white girls were still on the train. Paint Rock, 38 miles from Stevenson, was notified by telegraph to stop the train

Scottsboro Boys almost Lynched

Mar 26, 1931

Chronology of Scottsboro Boys A crowd of 100 people gathered outside of the Scottboro jail to see the Boys lynched. The nine boys are not lynched, but are put in jail.

Trials Begin

Apr 6, 1931

Chronology of Scottsboro Boys The trials begin with A. E. Hawkins as the judge.

First Convictions

Apr 7, 1931

Chronology of Scottsboro Boys The Grand jury indicts the nine Scottsboro boys for rape. Clarence Norris, Charlie Weems, Haywood Patterson, Olen Montgomery, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williams, and Andy Wright are sentenced to death.The jury consisted of all white men and one black man.. The trial of Roy Wright ends in a mistrial.

Ruby Bates Letter

Jan 5, 1932

Chronology of Scottsboro Boys Ruby Bates, in a letter to a Earl Streetman, denies that she was raped.

Alabama Supreme Court

Period: Mar 1, 1932 to Mar 31, 1932

Chronology of Scottsboro Boys 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.

Supreme Court Decision

Nov 1, 1932

Chronology of Scottsboro Boys The Supreme Court, by a vote of 7-2, reverses the convictions of the Scottsboro boys in Powell vs. Alabama. The Supreme Court rules that Alabama failed to provide adequate assistance of counsel as required by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. Scottsboro Boys

Haywood Patterson's Trial

Mar 27, 1933

Chronology of Scottsboro Boys Haywood Patterson's second trial begins in Decatur before judge James Horton.

Haywood Patterson's Trial

Apr 9, 1933

Chronology of Scottsboro Boys Haywood Patterson is found guilty by the jury and sentenced to death in the electric chair.

Trial's Postponed

Apr 18, 1933

Chronology of Scotttsboro Boys Judge Horton postpones the trials of the other Scottsboro boys because of dangerously high local tensions.

Protests

May 7, 1933

White House History
In one of many protests around the nation, thousands march in Washington protesting the Scottsoro Boys trials. Most protestors were African-American.

Mistrials and New Trials

Period: Jun 1, 1933 to Dec 31, 1934

Chronology of Scottsboro Boys In this timespan of June 1933 to December 1934, the Alabama Supreme Court cannot make any clear decision of what to do with the Scottsboro Boys.

U.S. Supreme Court

Jan 1, 1935

Chronology of Scottsboro Boys The U. S. Supreme Court agrees to review the most recent Scottsboro convictions.

U.S. Supreme Court's Decision

Apr 9, 1935

Chronology of Scottsboro Boys The U.S. Supreme Court overturns the convictions of Norris and Patterson because African Americans were excluded from sitting on the juries in their trials.

Scottsboro Defense Committee

Period: Dec 1, 1935 to Dec 31, 1935

PBS Scottsboro Boys The Scottsboro Defense Committee was formed in December 1935 with representatives of the NAACP, the International Labor Defense, the American Civil Liberties Union (A.C.L.U.), the League for Industrial Democracy, and the Methodist Federation for Social Service. The organization's main objective was to provide a united defense for the Scottsboro defendants.