A WebQuest in Progress - Please offer suggestions, comments, add's info, good questions, etc. Thanks, Ana
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Tom Robinson and the Scottsboro Boys
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Nonviolent Resistence | ||
| Events in To Kill a Mockingbird | Events involving the Scottsboro Boys | Dates | Other Civil Rights Events |
| . | Victoria Price and Ruby Bates accuse nine African-American men, including 13-year-old Eugene Williams, of rape. | March 25, 1931 | . |
| Chapter 15: With the help of Scout, Atticus holds off a lynch mob outside the courthouse. Lynching was a fact of Southern life. Why does Atticus risk his life for Tom? Real-life Judge James Horton, who presided over the second Scottsboro trials, said "So far as the law is concerned, it knows neither native nor alien, Jew or Gentile, black or white. This case is not different from any other. We have only our duty to do without fear or favor." |
Scottsboro Boys are nearly lynched. | March 26, 1931 | |
| Chapter 17: Bob Ewell testifies that he discovered Tom Robinson beating and raping his daughter, Mayella.
On cross examination, Bob admits that he did not call a doctor. How does this plot-twist coincide with the medical testimony of Dr. R. R. Bridges? In this section, we also learn that Mayella was beaten by a left-handed person, like her father. In Chapter 19, Atticus proves that Tom could not use his left hand. This type of conclusive proof is reminiscent of evidence brought forth about real-life defendent William Roberson who was infected with painful STDs. Charges against Roberson were dropped in 1937. |
First Trial before Judge A. E. Hawkins was carefully analyzed ina Report to the American Civil Liberties Union by Miss Hollace Ransdall, May 27, 1931.
Read the testimony of Victoria Price and Dr. R. R. Bridges, then decide who you believe. |
April 6-7, 1931 | |
| Appeals begin. The New York Times publishes a series of articles that reveal public reaction. | June 22, 1931 | . | |
| . | Ruby Bates denies the rape in a letter to Earl Streetman | January 5, 1932 | . |
| . | First Supreme Court Ruling: In Powell vs Alabama, 287 U. S. 45 (1932), the high court decided that the Scottsboro Boys' right to counsel had been denied. Dan Carter explains why. | November, 1932 | . |
| Chapter 18: The evidence against Tom rests essentially on the testimony of Mayella Ewell. Compare her testimony with the real-life cross-examination of Victoria Price during the 1933 trial. | Samuel Leibowitz defends Haywood Patterson before Judge James Horton.
Price and Bridges testify again, revealing interesting differences from the first trial. Ruby Bates recants her earlier testimony and denies that she was raped. Lester Carter testifies for the defense, providing motive for Price and Bates to lie. Patterson is found guilty and sentenced to death. What were people thinking? Read these Quotations from the Second Trial (1933) |
March 27 - April 9, 1933 | . |
| . | Judge Horton sets aside Patterson's conviction and grants a new trial because he believes that Price's evidence must be corroborated. Horton does not win reelection and the case passes to Callahan. | June 22, 1933 | . |
| . | Haywood Patterson and Clarence Norris are convicted of rape and sentenced to death in the courtroom of Judge William Callahan, who does not believe corroboration is necessary for a conviction.
What were people thinking? Read these Quotations from the Third Trial (1933) Look also at the New York Times articles describing political and public reaction. |
November - December, 1933 | . |
| . | New round of appeals begin | June 1934 | . |
| . | Second Supreme Court Decision: In Norris v. Alabama 254 U. S. 587 (1935), the high court ruled that African Americans had been excluded from the jury. | April 1, 1935 | . |
| . | Haywood Patterson is convicted and sentenced to 75 years. | January 23, 1936 | . |
| Tom Robinson is killed. In the movie, he is shot while trying to escape. Why does Harper Lee end Robinson's story this way instead of relying on true events? | Ozie Powell is shot in the head for attacking a Deputy Sheriff, but he survives. | January 24, 1936 | |
| Five years later, a reporter describes the lives of the Boys in prison. | 1936 | ||
| Clarence Norris is sentenced to death, Andrew Wright to 99 years, Charles Weems to 75 years, and Ozie Powell pleads guilty for assaulting the sheriff and sentenced to 20 years. Charges against Leroy "Roy" Wright, Eugene Williams, Olen Montgomery, and Willie Roberson are dropped. Learn more about Eugene, who was 13 in 1931, in this 1935 newspaper article. |
July, 1937 | ||
| Clarence Norris's death sentence is reduced to life | July 5, 1938 | ||
| Charles Weems is paroled | September, 1943 | ||
| Clarence Norris and Andrew Wright are paroled. Norris and Wright violates parole. Norris is returned to prison. | January - October 1944 | ||
| Powell and Norris are paroled. Wright is returned to prison. | 1946 | ||
| Haywood Patterson escapes. | 1948 | ||
| Wright is paroled. Patterson is arrested, but Michigan's governor refuses to extradite him to Alabama. In December, Patterson kills another man in a barroom fight. | 1950 | ||
| Patterson is convicted of manslaughter and dies in prison. | 1951 - 1952 | ||
| 1954 | Brown v. Board of Education desegregates schools. | ||
| 1955 | Emmett Till whistles at a white woman. A few days later, his battered corpse is found in the Tallahatchie River | ||
| To Kill a Mockingbird is published. The movie wins an Academy Award. | 1960 | ||
| Norris is pardoned by Alabama Governor George Wallace. | 1976 | ||
| Bates & Price sue PBS for slander. Bates dies, and Price's lawsuit for slander against PBS is dismissed. She dies five years later. | July 1977 | ||
| Clarence Norris dies at age 76. | January 23, 1989 | ||
The questions below are prompts for a TAKS-style essay. Choose one, form an opinion worth arguing about, and use evidence from your research to prove that your opinion is right.
Based on your readings of an actual court case (The Scottsboro Trials), does Atticus Finch’s courageous defense of Tom Robinson seem realistic or overly idealistic? Explain. (from the National Endowment for the Humanities)
Would a Southern Lawyer have changed the verdict? (from a PBS poll)
\Victoria Price and Mayella Ewell are not completely alike? What changes did Harper Lee make in Mayella's character, and why?
Works Cited
American Experience: Scottsboro, an American Tragedy. Public Broadcasting System. 17 Mar. 2005 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/scottsboro/index.html>.
Famous American Trials: "The Scottsboro Boys" Trial, 1931 - 1937. The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. 17 Mar. 2005 <http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/scottsboro/scottsb.htm>.
The Greatest Trials of All Time: The Scottsboro Boys. 1998. The Courtroom Television Network. 17 Mar. 2005 <http://www.courttv.com/archive/greatesttrials/scottsboro/>.
Pitts, Davis. "The Scottsboro Boys and Fundamental Rights." The Scottsboro Boys. 17 Feb. 2005. U.S. Department of State: International Information Programs. 17 Mar. 2005 <http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itdhr/0701/ijde/pitts.htm>.
"Profiles in Courage: To Kill A Mockingbird and the Scottsboro Boys Trial." Edsitement. The National Endowment for the Humanities. 18 Mar. 2005 <http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=526>.
The Scottsboro Boys. The Afro American Newspaper. 17 Mar. 2005 <http://www.afro.com/history/scott/scotts.html>.
Scottsboro Trial. Oracle Education Foundation: ThinkQuest. 17 Mar. 2005 <http://library.thinkquest.org/~12111/scottsboro/scottsbo.htm>.