Remembering The Scottsboro Boys

March 25, 1931 a group of black boys snuck on a train along with a group of white boys. One of the members of the white group stepped on one of the black boy’s finger and told them to get off the train along with others words. There were 9 African American boys only 4 of which actually knew each other. The two groups got into a fight and ended up kicking the white groups off the train (not literally). Anyways word got around about what happened and the black boys were greeted at their stops by a mob of angry white people with guns and other weapons ready to hurt them. On top of that two white females lied and said that in the mists of all that they were raped by the 9 boys.
RIP
Charles Weems
Clarence Norris
Andy Wright
Ozie Powell
Olen Montgomery
Eugene Williams
Willie Roberson
Roy Wright
Haywood Patterson

March 25, 1931 Posse stops Southern Railroad train in Paint Rock, Alabama. Scottsboro boys are arrested on charges of assault. Rape charges are added against all nine boys after accusations are made by Victoria Price and Ruby Bates.
March 26, 1931 Scottsboro boys are nearly lynched by crowd of over 100 gathered around Scottsboro's jail.
March 30, 1931 Grand jury indicts the nine Scottsboro boys for rape.
April 6, 1931 Trials begin in Scottboro before Judge A. E. Hawkins.
April 7-9,1931 Clarence Norris, Charlie Weems, Haywood Patterson, Olen Montgomery, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williams, and Andy Wright are tried and convicted, and sentenced to death. The trial of Roy Wright ends in a mistrial when some jurors hold out for a death sentence even though the prosecution asked for life imprisonment.
April -Dec., 1931 NAACP and International Labor Defense (ILD) battle for the right to represent the Scottsboro boys.
June 22, 1931 Executions are stayed pending appeal to Alabama Supreme Court.
July 10, 1931 On the date first set for their executions, the Scottsboro boys listen to the execution of Willie Stokes, the first of ten blacks to be executed at the prison over the next ten years. After hearing gruesome reports of the execution, many of the boys report nightmares or sleepless nights.
January, 1932 NAACP withdraws from case.
January 5, 1932 Ruby Bates, in a letter to a Earl Streetman, denies that she was raped.
March, 1932 Alabama Supreme Court, by a vote of 6-1, affirms the convictions of seven of the boys. The conviction of Eugene Williams is reversed on the grounds that he was a juvenile under state law in 1931.
May, 1932 The U. S. Supreme Court announces that it will review the Scottsboro cases.
November, 1932 The Supreme Court, by a vote of 7-2, reverses the convictions of the Scottsboro boys in Powell vs. Alabama. Grounds for reversal are that Alabama failed to provide adequate assistance of counsel as required by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.
January, 1933 Samuel S. Leibowitz, a New York lawyer, is retained by the ILD to defend the Scottsboro boys.
March 27, 1933 Haywood Patterson's second trial begins in Decatur before judge James Horton.
April 9, 1933 Haywood Patterson found guilty by jury and sentenced to death in the electric chair.
April 18, 1933 Judge Horton postpones the trials of the other Scottsboro boys because of dangerously high local tensions.
May 7, 1933 In one of many protests around the nation, thousands march in Washington protesting the Alabama trials.

June 22, 1933 Judge Horton sets aside Haywood Patterson's conviction and grants a new trial.
October 20, 1933 The Scottsboro cases are removed from Judge Horton's jurisdiction and transferred to Judge William Callahan's court.
Nov.-Dec., 1933 Haywood Patterson and Clarence Norris are tried for rape, convicted, and sentenced to death.
June 12, 1934 Judge Horton, who had faced no opposition in his previous race, is defeated in his bid for re-election.
June, 1934 Alabama Supreme Court affirms the convictions of Haywood and Norris.
October, 1934 Two lawyers are charged with attempting to bribe Victoria Price in order to change her testimony.
January, 1935 The U. S. Supreme Court agrees to review the most recent Scottsboro convictions.
April 1, 1935 The U.S. Supreme Court overturns the convictions of Norris and Patterson because African Americans were excluded from sitting on the juries in their trials. Patterson v. State of Alabama, 294 U.S. 600 (1935); Norris v. State of Alabama, 294 U.S. 587 (1935)

December, 1935 The Scottsboro Defense Committee is organized.
January 23, 1936 Haywood Patterson is convicted for a fourth time of rape and is sentenced to 75 years in prison.
January 24, 1936 Ozzie Powell is shot in the head by Sheriff Jay Sandlin while attacking Deputy Sheriff Edgar Blalock.
December, 1936 Thomas Knight meets with Samuel Leibowitz in New York to discuss a possible compromise.
June 14, 1937 Conviction of Haywood Patterson is upheld by the Alabama Supreme Court.
July, 1937 Clarence Norris is convicted of rape and sentenced to death. Andy Wright is convicted and sentenced to 99 years for rape. Charlie Weems is convicted and sentenced to 75 years. Ozzie Powell pleads guilty to assaulting the sheriff and is sentenced to 20 years.
July 24, 1937 Roy Wright, Eugene Williams, Olen Montgomery and Willie Roberson were released after all charges were dropped against them.
October 26, 1937 The U.S. Supreme Court declines to review the Patterson and Norris convictions.
June, 1938 Alabama Supreme Court upholds the death sentence for Clarence Norris.
July 5, 1938 Clarence Norris's death sentence is reduced to life in prison by Governor Graves.

August, 1938 Alabama Pardon Board declines to pardon Patterson and Powell.
October, 1938 Pardon Board denies the pardon applications of Norris, Weems, and Roy Wright.
October, 1938 Governor Graves interviews Scottsboro boys.
November, 1938 Governor Graves denies all pardon applications.
September, 1943 Charlie Weems is paroled.
January, 1944 Norris and Andy Wright are paroled.
September, 1944 Norris and Wright leave Montgomery in violation of their paroles.
October, 1944 Norris is returned to prison.
June, 1946 Ozzie Powell is paroled.
September, 1946 Norris, paroled again, leaves Alabama.
October, 1946 Andy Wright is returned to Kilby prison.
July, 1948 Haywood Patterson escapes from prison.
June, 1950 Andy Wright is paroled. FBI arrests Patterson, but Michigan's governor refuses extradition to Alabama.
December, 1950 Patterson is involved in a barroom fight resulting in the death of another man. Haywood is charged with murder.
September, 1951 Patterson is convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 6 to 15 years. He dies of cancer less than a year later.
October, 1976 Clarence Norris is pardoned by Alabama Governor George Wallace.
July, 1977 Victoria Price's suit against NBC for its movie "Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys," which she claimed defamed her and invaded her privacy, is dismissed. Price dies five years later.
Jan. 23, 1989 Clarence Norris, the last surviving Scottsboro boy, dies at age 76.