1. THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS

2. FIRST: Go to our Gaggle classroom Go to Documents Download the document titled “HeavensFallMovieWorksheet” You will complete this worksheet while you watch the film.

3. A BRIEF SUMMARY: March 25, 1931 A fight breaks out between white and black men riding as hobos on a freight train heading into Alabama. As a result, 9 black teenagers are arrested by an angry posse in Paint Rock, Alabama. Following the arrests, rape charges are added following the accusations of two white women also on the train – Victoria Price and Ruby Bates.

4. VICTORIA PRICE & RUBY BATES

5. THE BOYS: Haywood Patterson Age 18

6. Clarence Norris Age 19

7. Olen Montgomery Age 17

8. Willie Roberson Age 16

9. Charlie Weems Age 19

10. Eugene Williams Age 13

11. Ozie Powell Age 16

12. Andy Wright Age 19

13. Roy Wright Age 13

14. The nine teenagers were taken to the Scottsboro, Alabama jail on March 25, 1931. Protection of the accused by the National Guard became necessary as the next day an angry crowd of whites gathered with the intent of lynching the young men.

15. THE TRIALS: -April 7-9, 1931 The Scottsboro boys, excluding Roy Wright, are tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. The trial of Roy Wright -age 13- ends in a mistrial when 11 jurors hold out for a death sentence while one juror asked for life imprisonment. The NAACP gets involved to raise money for the defendants. -June 22, 1931 The execution of the boys was held up pending appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court.

16. SAMUEL LEIBOWITZ

17. 1932 - 1933 Samuel Leibowitz agrees not to charge lawyer fees to the boys. Haywood Patterson’s retrial begins before Judge James Horton. Ruby Bates testified as a witness and denied any occurrence of rape. Patterson is still found guilty and sentenced to death by electric chair despite the prosecution’s complete lack of evidence. Judge Horton sets new trials...

18. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD TIES... The author, Harper Lee, felt that the Scottsboro trials were an ugly reminder of racial bigotry. The Scottsboro Trials share several similarities with the fictional trial of Tom Robinson in the book. Both the fictional and real trials had all-white juries in the South during the 1930s.

19. BEFORE WE WATCH HEAVENS FALL, A FEW THOUGHTS... The first trial began just twelve days after the arrest and lasted only three days. This was entirely too fast to have a thought out, unbiased verdict. In spite of evidence of the men’s innocence, eight of the nine men were found guilty and, at first, sentenced to death. The extreme sentences and hasty trial left many observers outraged, and rightfully so.