Brought to you by the greats: The Scottsboro Boys Brought to you by the greats: Nick Deloyola Gurbakhs Bhandal Gary Sandhu

March 24, 1931 Black and white youths Incident at the Train March 24, 1931 Black and white youths Ruby Gates is touched Convicted of Rape On March 24, 1931 nine black youths were hitchhiking on a train with several white people. A fight broke out between the black and white groups and the whites were sent off the train. Meanwhile, the blacks were being hunted down by the authorities. Olen Montgomery(17),Haywood Patterson(18), Clarence Norris(19), Ozie Powell(16),Willie Roberson(16),Charlie Weems(16),Eugene Williams(13) and brothers Andy and Roy Wright(19 and 12). The authorities encountered two white women, Ruby Bates and Victoria Price, who said they had been raped by the black group.

Arrest and Lynch Mob Taken to Scottsboro Jail A lynch mob assembles demanding the group be surrendered Sheriff Wann defends the Scottsboro Boys National guard comes to defend The newly named Scottsboro Boys were now taken to Scottsboro Jail. Inevitably in the South, a lynch mob assembled in front of the jail. Sheriff Wann stood in front of the mob and said he’d kill anyone that walked into the jail. He then called Benjamin Miller, the Governor, who called the National Guard to defend the jail. The boys were sent to Alabama to wait for trial.

Let the Trials BEGIN Prisoners brought to court A tense and hostile environment Market day in Scottsboro The boys were brought the court by 118 guardsmen with machine guns. During the trials a market day or farmer’s market was going on meaning many farmers were in town to sell produce. Up to a thousand people formed at the court! The court required a permit to get into the court due to safety reasons.

Norris and Weems Trial Dr. Bridges found no vaginal tearing Semen was found in her for several hours Ruby claims other girls were raped Victoria Price and Ruby Bates said they saw the fight and one of the guys had a gun, and they were all raped at knifepoint. Victoria even started to joke around which made the court scream with laughter in this situation. Dr. Bridges said that from his examination he found no vaginal tearing but she had semen in her for many hours. During the trial, Charles Weems said that he had nothing to do with it and Patterson had the gun. He also stated that the girls weren’t seen until the train stopped. Clarence Norris said he saw the blacks raping the girl, shocking the courtroom. The first jury returned with a death sentence on Weems and Norris.

Patterson Trial Accused for shooting Claims he was in the gondola car Brother claims he had nothing to do with the girls Patterson’s trial happened while the Norris and Weems cases were still being reviewed. When the first verdict proved guilty, mostly everyone was in cheers. Mostly every eye witness claimed Patterson was guilty, including Victoria Price. When the new verdict came in question, the jury quickly prosecuted Patterson and he was sentenced to death.

Powell, Roberson, Williams, Montgomery and Andy Wright Trial Accused of all having knifes Claimed to split into 2 groups of six Witnesses claim to see no sign of rape Supporting the boys, were claimed guilty During this trial, Victoria Price repeated the same testimony as the last trials to keep the story similar. The same story of how they broke out into groups of 6 and raped them on knifepoint.

The eight convicted sentenced to electrocution death. Death Sentences The eight convicted sentenced to electrocution death. Execution set for July 10, 1931 The eight defendants that were convicted were gathered on April 9, 1931 and were sentenced to an electrocution death. Judge Hawkins gave the death sentences one by one to the convicted.

Final Decisions After a lengthy appeals to the US supreme court and Decatur trials in KKK territory. Hayward Patterson convicted of rape-sentenced to 75 years Clarence Norris sentenced to death, later escaped and pardoned Andrew Wright paroled in 1950 Charlie Weems paroled in 1943 Ozie shot in the face by officers and released in 1946 Alabama dropped all charges of 4 boys. 4 of them spent over 6 years in jail, and certain adults went toward death row. Roy Wright was soon released and he joined the U.S. Army. Once he came back he shot his wife as he thought she was cheating and shot himself. Patterson was the only one sent to a different prison then then the others.

Aftermath The trials made a long step towards the fight of equal rigths, although there was still a long way to go afterwards.

Did You Know? Rudy Bates was lying and in the end the Scottsboro Boys were proved innocent in a way, but were convicted of other crimes. Justice didn’t listen to Ruby Bates because her story was phony. The judicial system wasn’t fully developed and there was ignorance toward blacks, which caused the lengthy process of freeing the convicted. The Scottsboro boys deserved full compensation for their troubles against this corrupted case. Even though they didn’t receive compensation, they desrve it as they went through a lot of trouble and wasted most of their lives in trial or jail.

Works Cited PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 05 Sept. 2014. "The Trials of The Scottsboro Boys." The Trials of The Scottsboro Boys. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Sept. 2014.