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Scottsboro train incident
On a freight train heading to Memphis, TN nine black boys were riding looking to find work. Soon, a fight broke out just north of Scottsboro, AL between a few white men and the black men. The black men won, but word spread to Paint Rock, the next city on the train route. An armed mob met the train and forced the black men to get off and had them immedietly arrested. Then two woman got off the train, and to avoid getting questioned they claimed they were raped by the black men on the train. -
Arrival to Scottsboro jail
When the boys arrive in Scottsboro a huge croud had gathered to meet them. They would have been lynched on the spot, had it not been for the sherrif who was able to get them safely into the Scottsboro jail. There they waited for their first trial. -
First trial in scottsboro
In the first trial the boys had almost no help in their defence. Their lawyer was Stephen Roddy, a real esitiate attorney who orignally told the boys to plead guilty. In only a day and a half all nine boys were convicted of rape and eight were sentenced to death. -
Death Sentences announced
Judge A.E. Hawkins sentenced eight of the nine boys to death. The only one not to get the death sentence was Roy Wright, because he was too young to rape a woman at the time the rape took place. -
Executions postponed
The executions of the boys are postponed because of an appeal to the Alabama Supreme court. -
AL Supreme Court afferms death sentences
The Alabama Supreme Court affirms seven of the eight death sentences. The only sentence that is overturned is Eugene Williams' because he should not have been tried as an adult due to the fact he was a minor during the orignal trial. -
U.S. Supreme Court orders retrials
By a vote of 7-2 The U.S. Supreme Court ordered new trials for the Scottsboro boys. The court found the boys were denied fourtheenth ammendent rights. Since the boys did not have adequate defence it was determined that they did not have a fair trial. This landmark ruling became known as Powell vs. Alabama. -
Patterson convicted again
Haywood Patterson was again sentenced to death in his second trial. This time he had the defence of Samuel Leibowitz, a well known lawyer from New York. The only problem was that Leibowitz was despised in the south both because he was a Jew and was from the north. -
Horten sets aside Patterson's conviction
Judge Horten sets aside Haywood Paterson's rape sentence and grants him yet another trial. This will be moved out of Judge Horten's court and into Judge William Callahan's court. -
Norris and Patterson convicted for rape yet again
Under Judge Callahan the trial was much different. He did not want the trial to be on the front page of the news. Therefore, he let very few media into the courthouse. Callahan was almost certianly against the boys from the start. At times he would not allow Leibowitz to cross examine, and he also allowed more prosecution objections than defence objections. As a result, both Norris and Patterson were found guilty again. -
U.S. Supreme Court gives Patterson and Norris another trial
The U.S. Supreme Court in Norris vs. The State of Alabama sent the trials back to Alabama for a second time. This time it was because there were no blacks sitting on Judge Callahan's jury, thus resulting in an unfair trial. -
Patterson found guilty, gets 75 years
During the retrial, again under Judge William Callahan the first black man sits on an Alabama jury since reconstruction. Haywood Patterson is, for the fourth time convicted of rape. However, for the firsrt time in Alabama history a black man did not get the death penalty for raping a white woman. Patterson instead recieved 75 years in prison. -
Four boys released, five others convicted
The next set of tirals brought a big surprise. Clarence Norris was sentenced to death, Andy Wright to 99 years, Charlie Weams to 75 years for rape. Also, Ozzie Powell recieved 20 years in prison for assulting a deputy. Then came the good news. The court announced that Roy Wright, Eugene Williams, Olen Montgomery and Willie Roberson were all free and were released from the state of Alabama. This is because they were so young during the trials and they had served adequate time based on their age. -
Govenor Graves denies pardon applications
Going into the parden interviews it seemed almost certian the Scottsboro boys would be pardoned. However, the interviews went terribly wrong. One of the boys was found to have a knife in his pocket, one would not answer any of the Govorner's questions, and all of the boys still denied any rape on the freight train. The rape that the Govonor still thought occured. -
All nine boys offically pardoned
All the boys eventially left the state of Alabama either through releases, or paroles. However the term "Scottsboro boys" was still affiliated with the families involved. A little over 50 years after the initial incident, and more than 20 years after the final Scottsboro boy passed away, the govoner of Alabama finally offically pardoned all nine Scottsboro boys.
