Background Notes: To Kill a Mockingbird By Harper Lee

Author: Nelle Harper Lee Born in 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama Youngest of four children Loved to read and pursued English literature Published TKAM in 1960 TKAM won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961 TKAM is one of the most read American works of all time She is the youngest of four children of Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Finch Lee. Harper Lee attended Huntingdon College 1944-45, studied law at University of Alabama 1945-49, and studied one year at Oxford University. In the 1950s she worked as a reservation clerk with Eastern Air Lines and BOAC in New York City. In 1957 Miss Lee submitted the manuscript of her novel to the J. B. Lippincott Company. She was told that her novel consisted of a series of short stories strung together, and she was urged to re-write it. For the next two and a half years she re-worked the manuscript with the help of her editor, Tay Hohoff, and in 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird was published, her only published book. Won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007.

Stock market crashes in 1929 The Great Depression lasts from 1929 -1939 During the Great Depression, thousands of people relied on charitable organizations for meals and would line up for simple meals often of bread and soup.

What is a Depression ? An economy with high unemployment, falling income, failing business, and declines in production and sales. In other words…a “broken” economy that needs to be fixed!

Causes for the Great Depression False Prosperity in the 1920’s led to: Over speculation (investment in a risky business venture) Oct. 1929 Stock Market Crash Banking Crisis - Most uninsured - Money runs Trade Collapse

Effects of the Depression on the Common Citizen Unemployment - At the height of the depression, 3 out of 10 Americans were jobless. Poverty - Millions homeless, hungry, penniless Injustices committed by the powerful against the powerless - Unfair pay, working conditions - Increased racial tensions

Author’s place of birth: Monroeville, Alabama --population 7,000 Monroeville Alabama, a city of about 7,000 people in Monroe County, which has about 24,000 people. Monroeville is in southwest Alabama, about halfway between Montgomery and Mobile. She is the youngest of four children of Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Finch Lee. Harper Lee attended Huntingdon College 1944-45, studied law at University of Alabama 1945-49, and studied one year at Oxford University. In the 1950s she worked as a reservation clerk with Eastern Air Lines and BOAC in New York City. In order to concentrate on writing Harper Lee gave up her position with the airline and moved into a cold-water apartment with makeshift furniture. Her father's sudden illness forced her to divide her time between New York and Monroeville, a practice she has continued. In 1957 Miss Lee submitted the manuscript of her novel to the J. B. Lippincott Company. She was told that her novel consisted of a series of short stories strung together, and she was urged to re-write it. For the next two and a half years she re-worked the manuscript with the help of her editor, Tay Hohoff, and in 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird was published, her only published book. Author’s place of birth: Monroeville, Alabama --population 7,000

The story is set in Maycomb, a fictional city in southern Alabama. To Kill a Mockingbird takes place from 1933 to 1935, during the Great Depression. The story is set in Maycomb, a fictional city in southern Alabama. The story’s setting, Maycomb County, is an isolated rural area, poor and undeveloped. It is slow to respond to change and progress. Black people receive low wages as field workers and house servants. White farmers are more likely to own land, but their crops are often meager. Trade is slow and they are often poor.

Semi-autobiographical details Scout Finch/Harper Lee, author Atticus Finch/A.C. Lee – Harper Lee’s attorney father Maycomb/Monroeville Tom Robinson trial/William Lett trial

Central Topic: Segregation to separate or set apart from others or from the main body or group; to isolate

Write three words that express what you are thinking as you view these pictures.

Trial of Walter Lett March, 1934 Accused of raping white woman Has alibi for time of rape Found guilty/sentenced to execution Citizens of Monroe County object Sentence changed to life imprisonment Lett dies of TB in 1937

Issues in To Kill a Mockingbird Racism Prejudice Social Class Differences Gossip Injustice Mob Mentality Still issues today…

Racism, Prejudice, Survival?