Alabama’s most shameful trial has a museum rated 4.9 stars

The Scottsboro Boys Trial

Ruby Bates was 17 and Victoria Price was 21 when they climbed aboard a Southern Railroad freight car in March 1931. Both were mill workers from Huntsville looking for jobs.

When deputies pulled them off the train in Paint Rock, Alabama, they made accusations that would destroy nine young lives and expose the savage racism of Jim Crow justice.

The defendants ranged from 13 to 19 years old. Some couldn’t read. All faced the electric chair. Communist lawyers battled the NAACP for the right to defend them while the world watched.

Here’s the complete story of the Scottsboro case, and where to find the Scottsboro Boys Museum in Alabama.

The Fight That Started It All

A fight broke out on the Southern Railroad freight train near Stevenson, Alabama on March 25, 1931. A white passenger stepped on Haywood Patterson’s hand. Harsh words led to punches.

The Black teenagers fought with white hoboes riding in the same open car. The white passengers lost and fell from the moving train. Angry and humiliated, they told the stationmaster that Black riders had attacked them.

The False Accusations

The train stopped at Paint Rock, Alabama. Police arrested the nine Black teenagers. Two white women on the train, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, feared charges for vagrancy and crossing state lines illegally.

To protect themselves, they claimed the Black teenagers had assaulted them. Doctors examined both women right after. They found no evidence of the accusations.

The women’s clothes weren’t torn. Their story had many holes. In 1931 Alabama, these facts didn’t matter.

The Threat of Lynching

News about the alleged rapes spread fast. The Scottsboro jail filled with angry white residents demanding quick punishment. The crowd grew larger.

Threats of lynching filled the air. This kind of mob violence had killed many falsely accused Black men across the South. Alabama Governor Benjamin Miller called the National Guard.

Soldiers guarded the jail. They moved the defendants to another town for safety before bringing them back for trial.

The Rushed First Trials

The court picked two lawyers to defend all nine teenagers. Stephen Roddy didn’t know Alabama law, and Milo Moody was 69 years old and hadn’t practiced in years.

The first trial began on April 6, just twelve days after the arrests. White spectators packed the courtroom. Soldiers stood at every door.

Judge Alfred Hawkins rushed through all nine cases in four days. Eight defendants got death sentences. The jury couldn’t agree on 13-year-old Roy Wright because some jurors wouldn’t sentence a child to death.

National Organizations Take Notice

The International Labor Defense, part of the Communist Party USA, spotted the injustice right away. They sent lawyers to Scottsboro and offered help.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People hesitated at first. They worried about losing white support by defending Black men accused of raping white women.

Both groups fought to control the case. The ILD won the parents’ trust with their strong actions. Haywood Patterson’s mother said, “They are the only ones who put up a fight to save these boys.”

Powell v. Alabama: The First Supreme Court Victory

The defense team took the case to the United States Supreme Court. The Court agreed to hear it in 1932.

On November 7, 1932, the Court announced their decision in Powell v. Alabama. They canceled all convictions and ordered new trials.

Justice George Sutherland wrote that people facing death sentences deserve good lawyers with enough time to prepare. This ruling marked the first time the Supreme Court applied the Fourteenth Amendment to state criminal cases.

Ruby Bates Recants Her Testimony

The second trials began in March 1933 in Decatur, Alabama. Samuel Leibowitz, a skilled New York lawyer hired by the ILD, defended the Scottsboro Boys.

Ruby Bates surprised everyone when she testified for the defense. She admitted that no rape happened and that she and Victoria Price had made up the entire story.

Price stuck to her accusations. Despite Bates’ confession and medical evidence showing no rape, the all-white jury again found Haywood Patterson guilty and sentenced him to death.

Judge Horton’s Brave Decision

Judge James Horton presided over the second trials. He studied the evidence and talked with doctors who had examined the women.

Believing the defendants were innocent, Judge Horton overturned Patterson’s conviction on June 22, 1933. He pointed to the lack of medical evidence and the conflicting testimony.

This brave act cost Judge Horton his job. Alabama voters removed him from office in the next election. Many whites saw him as a traitor to his race.

Norris v. Alabama: Another Supreme Court Victory

The cases returned to the Supreme Court in 1935. This time, the issue was jury selection in Alabama.

No Black citizens had served on Alabama juries in decades. Court officials claimed they couldn’t find “qualified” Black jurors, though many eligible Black residents lived in the county.

In Norris v. Alabama, the Supreme Court ruled that keeping Black citizens off juries violated the Constitution. This decision helped integrate juries across the South.

International Protests and Public Response

Protests erupted across America and Europe. Thousands marched in New York, Washington D.C., and London demanding justice for the Scottsboro Boys.

The Communist Party organized rallies, printed leaflets, and started letter-writing campaigns. They took the defendants’ mothers on speaking tours across the country.

Famous figures like Albert Einstein, H.G. Wells, and Thomas Mann sent support letters. The case drew worldwide attention to American racial injustice.

Visiting The Scottsboro Boys Museum, Alabama

You’ll find the highly-rated Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center at 428 West Willow Street in Scottsboro, Alabama. The museum occupies the historic Joyce Chapel United Methodist Church building.

Inside, permanent exhibits display original court documents, newspaper articles, and photographs from the 1931 trials. The self-guided tour includes interactive displays about the false accusations, the legal battles, and the nine defendants’ later lives.

Don’t miss the scale model of the Scottsboro courthouse where the first trials occurred.

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