Scottsboro Boys
Adaria A'janea Ooten-Groves
Summary
- A group of boys were on a freight train looking for work.
- One young black man's hand was stepped on.
- Then a fight started between the white and the black boys.
- The conductor of the train called the police on the boys for what they thought was for their fight.
- But when the train stopped the black boys were arrested for the rape of two white girls.
Key Person
Haywood Patterson
The whole fight started because his hand was stepped on. During the fight a white boy named Orville Gilley was thrown off the train but Patterson grabbed his hand a saved his life.Out of all the boys Patterson seemed to have it the hardest.At the time of his conviction he was 18 years old being tried four times and sentenced to death three times before they gave him 75 years. In 1948 Patterson escaped prison and made his way to Detroit , but was caught by the FBI. In 1950 of December he was arrested for a bar fight that resulted in a death and was convicted of manslaughter being senteced six to 15 years. Althought he was not able to serve all of his time because on August 24, 1952 Haywood Patterson Died of Cancer.
Event List
- On March 25, 1931, they were sentenced to death for the rape of two white women.
- Four of the men had eventually been paroled , Andy Wright gaining freedom in 1950 , but Haywood Patterson escaped.
- April 4, 2013, Alabama's state legislature voted unanimously to pardon the nine men, pending the signature of Govener Robert Bentley.
Citations
Kaplan, Rich. "Scottsboro Boys case." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.
PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.