Scottsboro Boys and To Kill a Mockingbird: Two Trials for the Classroom

In 1931, nine black youths, ranging in age from 13 to 19, were wrongfully convicted by all-white juries of raping two white women on a train in north Alabama. All but the youngest were sentenced to death, even though one of the women recanted her story. After numerous trials and appeals, none of the nine defendants was executed, due to the extraordinary defense of Samuel Leibowitz. Four were released when the charges against them were dropped in 1937, and gradually, one by one, by 1950, the remaining five gained their freedom. But the so-called Scottsboro Boys struggled to adapt to life as free men after the hardships they had endured in prison. The Encyclopedia of Alabama refers to the Scottsboro trials as “an unmitigated tragedy” and provides a detailed overview of this saga and its legacy. Flash forward 80 years later: The Scottsboro Boys surfaced again in the national news. On April 19, 2013, in a formal ceremony at the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center, Alabama’s Governor Robert Bentley signed posthumous pardons for the entire group of young men wrongfully convicted back in the 1930s. “This is historic legislation, and it’s time to right this wrong,” Bentley said in his statement.

Since its publication in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird has paid witness to similar racial injustice. Parallels can be made between the fictional trial of Tom Robinson and the historical Scottsboro Boys case trials, which Harper Lee drew upon as inspiration for the novel. Like Scottsboro, the setting in To Kill a Mockingbird is a small town in Alabama, in the 1930s. Like the trials, the novel illustrates a time in the American South when Jim Crow was the law of the land, racial segregation was entrenched, and mob rule could chew up and spit out the individual. Harper Lee’s story reveals the heroic nature of acting with moral courage in this place during this time when it was practically unthinkable for a white person to look at the world from a minority’s perspective. The Encyclopedia of Alabama chalks up the ongoing popularity of To Kill a Mockingbird  to the message of tolerance that Lee proclaimed during an intolerant age.” The article states that this novel “has become the primary literary instrument worldwide for teaching values of racial justice, tolerance for people different from ourselves, and the need for moral courage in the face of community prejudice and ostracism.” Likewise, there are aspects of the Scottsboro Boys trials which called upon the moral courage of its participants.

For general contextual background on the 1930s in America, the EDSITEment-reviewed website, American Studies at the University of Virginia, provides a multimedia timeline. Each year in the timeline is divided by months and also by four color-coded categories: Politics and Society; Science and Technology; Arts and Culture; and World Events. Many of the items listed for each year are linked to further information in the form of images, audio, and video. 

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3. Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

Excerpts from the following primary and secondary sources of the Scottsboro Boys trial of 1931 and the first Scottsboro Boys trial of 1933 held in Decatur, Alabama, from March through April are used in the lesson activities:

• "Report on the Scottsboro, ALA. Case” by Miss Hollace Ransdall for the American Civil Liberties Union on May 27, 1931
• Famous Trials by Douglas O. Linder of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School contains an account of “The Trials of The Scottsboro Boys.” It provides a wealth of primary source documents and includes trial transcripts, photographs, newspaper accounts of the trials as well as excellent summary essays
• American Experience documentary, Scottsboro: An American Tragedy

Students should have completed their initial reading of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird before commencing work on this lesson.

• Activity 1. Worksheet 1 Trial Plaintiffs Compared
• Activity 1. Worksheet 1.1 Trial Plaintiffs Compared. Teacher’s Version
• Activity 2. Worksheet 2 Part 1 Trial Character Traits
• Activity 2. Worksheets 2.1 Part 1 Trial Characters Traits. Teacher’s Version:
  • Haywood Patterson
  • Tom Robinson
  • Samuel Leibowitz
  • Atticus Finch
  • Judge James E. Horton
  • Judge Taylor
• Activity 2. Worksheet 2. Part 2 Trial Characters Compared
• Activity 2. Worksheet 2.1 Part 2 Trial Characters Compared. Teacher’s Version
• Worksheet 3 Trial Closing Remarks Compared
• Worksheet 3.1 Trial Closing Remarks Compared. Teacher’s Version

Activity 1. Trial Observations

In the activity, students interpret firsthand accounts of the fictional and historical trials as recorded by two different witnesses. They will compare the factual trial report with the fictional trial observations to determine the character of the plaintiff(s) or accusers in both cases. This activity will also build students’ contextual knowledge of the American South in the 1930s.

• Factual trial account: Miss Hollace Ransdall, the on-site representative of the American Civil Liberties Union during the historical Scottsboro Boys trial of 1931
• Fictional trial account: Scout Finch, Harper Lee’s narrator who bears witness to the trial of Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird (chapters 18–20)

Students may read the “Report on the Scottsboro, ALA. Case” (May 27, 1931) written by Miss Hollace Ransdall. Tell them Ransdall was a young teacher, journalist, and activist asked by ACLU officials to travel to Alabama to investigate and report on the controversial trials of the Scottsboro Boys that had just taken place. Ransdall spent ten days in early May of 1931 interviewing a number of people involved in the case including the two plaintiffs, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. This unpublished report is a contemporaneous account of social attitudes as they existed at the time of the trial.

Have students pay special attention to the following sections and pages of the Ransdall report where the two plaintiffs, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, and their families are described in detail:

• Economic and Social Background of the Case (11–12)
• Why the Two Girls Made the Charge (12–14)
• Ruby Bates and Her Family (14–15)
• Victoria Price and Her Mother (15–17)

Students may review To Kill a Mockingbird, chapters 17–20 for observations made by “Scout” Finch, during the courtroom scenes of Tom Robinson’s trial. Have them pay careful attention to description of the Ewells, the plaintiff’s family in chapter 17, and Mayella’s testimony on the witness stand in chapter 18.

Note to the students that the Scottsboro Boys were put through many trials that went on for a number of years. Activity 1 relates to the observations made in the first trial in 1931.Tell students there is a lot going on in the fictional and historical trials observations. Remind them for the purposes of this activity that their sole focus should be on extracting the descriptions of the plaintiffs and the plaintiffs’ families as described by Hollace Ransdall and Scout.

Using Worksheet 1 Trial Plaintiffs Compared, have students complete a close reading of these sections of the texts to collect important details from the plaintiffs’ own testimony and reflections by other witnesses about the plaintiffs and their families.

Inform students these details are small parts of a larger picture.  They will provide a basis to begin the overall comparison between the two trials and the two authors’ messages. [Note: In the Worksheet 1.1 Trial Plaintiffs Compared (Teacher’s Version), vocabulary words that may be unfamiliar to students have been highlighted and their definitions have been provided in parentheses.]

Following the close reading analysis of the plaintiffs and their families, responses should be shared by the whole class, with several questions at the bottom of Worksheet 1 focusing the discussion.

Have students consider how Miss Ransdall’s adult perspective of the plaintiffs’ Ruby and Victoria in the Scottsboro trial of 1931 may be similar to and/or different from the child’s point of view Scout had of the plaintiff Mayella in the trial of Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird. Students should refer back to the textual evidence gathered in Worksheet 1 to support their responses.

• Consider these two observations. Does one description of the plaintiffs and their families have strengths that the other does not have? What are the limitations of each observation? Does this limitation have anything to do with the age or life experience of the observer? Explain.
• Do any of Miss Ransdall’s observations of Ruby and Victoria stand out as being courageous in their honesty for the time in which they were made? Why?
• What is moral courage? Do any of Scout’s observations of Atticus’s examination of Mayella exemplify his moral courage? How? Do any examples of moral courage surface in Miss Ransdall’s report?
• In what ways does the fictional testimony reflect upon or differ from the testimony of the historical figures. Which trial testimony seems more unbelievable? Are there any aspects of the observations of the plaintiffs and their families in the two trials that would support the old adage: “Fact is stranger than fiction”? Explain.

Assessment: Have students think about what they have learned about each plaintiff and their families from the observations they have recorded. Have them write a cause and effect analysis of the plaintiffs in both trials based on their observations. Identify what factors (events, series of events, or circumstances) may have led each plaintiff to level the accusations that resulted in the arrests of the accused and their subsequent trials.

Activity 2. Trial Characters

Have students analyze the motivations of other main characters (defendants, defense attorneys, and judges) in both the historical and fictional trials. Using the primary and secondary sources of the first Scottsboro trial of 1933 and excerpts from To Kill a Mockingbird, have them identify descriptive passages of and quotations from each of these historical and fictional characters.  For each passage and quotation, students will come up with a character trait or descriptive phrase. Then, they willcompare the corresponding sets of characters. Have them pay special attention to the instances in which these characters may have exhibited courage or cowardice.

Tell students that for the purposes of Activity 2, the Haywood Patterson trial held March through April 1933 in Decatur, Alabama under Judge James E. Horton will be considered. Have students begin with a contextual background reading to build their knowledge of main characters in this first Scottsboro trial held in 1933.

• Using the Douglas Linder website, teachers may want students to first read through Linder’s full account for a comprehensive overview of ‘The Trials of “The Scottsboro Boys.”’
• For Activity 2, direct students specifically to the biography section and the Linder essay entitled: “Without Fear or Favor: Judge James Edwin Horton and the Trial of the Scottsboro Boys,” which provides valuable information about this 1933 trial and all three historical figures under consideration: Haywood Patterson, Samuel Leibowitz, and Judge James E. Horton.
• Another resource for background information on main characters in the 1933 trial is the companion website to the American Experience documentary, Scottsboro: An American Tragedy.

Specific links from the Douglas Linder and the Scottsboro: An American Tragedy documentary websites are provided here to direct students to specific primary and secondary sources passages related to that character in the trial:

Haywood Patterson, one of the Scottsboro boy defendants

• Biography: Haywood Patterson
• Excerpts from the testimony of Haywood Patterson
• People and Events: “Haywood Patterson, 1913–1952”

Samuel Leibowtiz, the defense attorney

• Biography: Samuel Leibowitz
• “People’s Lawyers: Crusaders for Justice in American History, Samuel S. Leibowitz” (173–180)
• People and Events: “Samuel Leibowitz, 1893–1978”

Judge James E. Horton, the trial judge

• Biography: Judge James E. Horton
• People and Events: “Judge James Edwin Horton Jr., 1878–1973”
• “Warning to Potential Lynchers”
• “Instructions to the Jury on April 8, 1933”
• “Judge Horton Orders a New Trial in the Case of Haywood Patterson June 22, 1933”

For the comparative analysis of the corresponding three main trial characters in Tom Robinson’s trial in To Kill a Mockingbird and its aftermath, students should review chapters 17–22 in the novel. Students will find additional evidence on the character traits of both Atticus Finch and Judge John Taylor surfaces after the trial scene has concluded. Refer them to chapter 22 of the novel beginning with the line, “Indoors, when Miss Maudie wanted to say something lengthy she spread her fingers on her knees and settled her bridgework. This she did, and we waited …”

Tom Robinson, defendant

Atticus Finch, defense attorney

Judge John Taylor, trial judge

Divide students into groups of three or four and distribute Worksheet 2. Part 1 Trial Character Traits. Assign one or more sets of corresponding characters to each group of students. Have them work together to complete profiles of this set of characters in the trials using the worksheets. They should draw evidence from both the primary source and secondary source passages that describe the character of their historical and fictional figures. Have students enter short descriptive phrases, adjectives, direct quotations from each trial and its aftermath into the second column. Then have students come up with a descriptive character trait exemplified in that passage and place it in the first column.

After students have a complete list of characters traits for their set of characters entered in Worksheet 2. Part 1 they are ready to move onto Worksheet 2. Part 2. Using the appropriate spaces in the table, have students identify differences and similarities for the historical figures and their fictional counterparts. Encourage students to consider aspects of moral courage and/or cowardice which these characters may have exhibited during the trial.

Students should draw on the evidence they have gathered in their comparative analysis to share with the whole class in a follow up discussion.

Worksheets 2.1 Part 1 and Part 2. Suggested Answers are provided for the teacher. There are six worksheets with suggested answers for Part 1 under the names of each trial character and a completed table for the Part 2 comparison.

Have students refer to their completed Worksheet 2. Part 1 and Part 2 for evidence to support their answers.

• How does the profile for the defendant Haywood Patterson’s differ from that of Tom Robinson? Are there any fundamental similarities between the two defendants? Are they more different or similar?
• How does Samuel Leibowitz measure up to Atticus as a defense attorney? Are there any flaws in Attorney Leibowitz’s professional conduct that influenced the trial outcome? Are there any flaws in Attorney Finch’s professional conduct? If you were to be represented by one or the other, which one would you want defending you?
• How does each judge handle the trial testimony? Why does the judge in each case rule in the way he does? How does each judge handle the sentencing and/or aftermath of the trail? What does that say about the character of each judge?
• Considering these two trials, can you make a statement about equal justice under the law? Is justice blind or is it influenced by community and individual prejudices as well as other factors?
• Given the climate in Alabama in the 1930s, could the judge(s) have ruled any other way?

Assessment: Groups of students select one set of characters they have compared from the two trials. (i.e., defendants, attorneys, judges) Ask them to synthesize what they have learned about each character in a statement regarding the nature of these characters’ courage or cowardice. Be sure to have them include evidence from they have collected from primary and secondary passages and the novel in their answers. Groups should report their findings for other students to read.

Activity 3. Closing Arguments

Have students examine summaries of the closing remarks of the attorneys from both sides in the first trial held March through April 1933, in Decatur, Alabama, covered in Activity 2. Then have them consider the closing remarks from Atticus Finch’s defense in the fictional trial of Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird. A follow-up discussion will help students determine how these arguments reflect racial and religious prejudice in the American South of the 1930s.

Excerpts of summations and closing remarks for each of the trials can be found in the following resources:

Scottsboro Boys

• “The Trials of “The Scottsboro Boys” by Douglas O. Linder," focusing on the section: "Excerpts from Summations:"

For the prosecution:

• Excerpts from the summation of Wade Wright
• Excerpts from the summation of Thomas Knight

For the defense:

• Excerpts from the summation of Samuel Leibowitz

To Kill a Mockingbird

For the prosecution:

• Harper Lee does not relate the arguments by Mr. Gilmer for the prosecution. She has the narrator Scout and the other children outside the courtroom during this part of the trial. 

For the defense:

• Atticus Finch’s closing argument in To Kill a Mockingbird (chapter 20)

After reading through the summaries of the closing remarks, students use Worksheet 3 to record the main points of the closing arguments for each side.

For the purposes of Activity 3, note to students, that the comparison being made will be the summations of the attorneys in the two trials (rather than comparing the closing arguments of the two opposing sides within each trial).

Tell them there are two attorneys for the prosecution, in the Scottsboro Boys trials. There is space on the Worksheet for students to record both. There are no closing remarks by the prosecution in the To Kill a Mockingbird trial. There is a summation by Samuel Leibowtiz for the defense in the Scottsboro trial 1933. Atticus Finch’s closing speech on behalf of the defense to the jury can be accessed in the To Kill a Mockingbird trial. (Worksheet 3.1. Teacher’s Version is provided.)

In a whole class discussion, have students evaluate the arguments made by each attorney, assess the strength and weaknesses of both, and consider what they reveal about societal values in the American South in the 1930s. Use the evidence gathered on Worksheet 3 to respond to the following questions:

 Activity 3 follow-up questions for discussion:

• What are the strengths of each summation in each case? What are the weaknesses of each summation in each case? How do the personality and character of the attorney delivering the statement as well as the words used influence the juries in each case?
• What does the Scottsboro Boys prosecutors’ closing argument(s) reveal about race relations in the South in 1933? What does it reveal about religious bias?
• Why do you think the author Harper Lee decided not to include the prosecutor’s closing statement in To Kill a Mockingbird? What effect does its omission have on the novel? On the reader?
• Is the summation for the defense by Samuel Leibowitz in the Scottsboro trial persuasive or not? How does Leibowitz’s summation compare to Atticus’s closing argument in the fictional trial?
• What do the closing remarks in each trial reveal about race and religious views in this region of the American South in the1930s?

Assessment: Compare the main points of the closing arguments in the cases. Write a paragraph about the arguments. Is one more persuasive than the other? Why? Are the points based on evidence presented in the trials? What concerns or questions are you left with after the summations? What moral and ethical issues does each case raise for you? Does Atticus Finch’s courageous defense of Tom Robinson in the To Kill a Mockingbird trial seem realistic or overly idealistic? Is Atticus’s defense more or less courageous than Leibowitz’s defense? Cite evidence from both trials in your response.

A closing discussion of this lesson in its entirety will have students consider the following:

• How does a fictional portrayal of a trial compare to a factual account from a historical trial?
• What, if anything, does each trial experience say about the universal values of courage, the “truth,” and justice?
• How does each trial reflect the social and racial prejudice of the American South in the 1930s?  Cite specific examples in each case.
• How do students think these trials would play out if they been set in the context of the early 21st century? Are there any parallels to these cases in current trials being covered by the media?

Have students write an essay relating values exhibited in both the fictional and historical trials, including moral courage. Students will use effective writing techniques and well-chosen details drawn from evidence gathered from the novel and primary source and secondary documents accessed in the lesson activities.

Compare the societal values that are manifested in the Scottsboro Boys and the To Kill a Mockingbird trials. What do the public testimony and private thoughts expressed by participants during each trial convey about the culture of the American South of the 1930s. Explain. Are there any differences in the ways the two trials depict the culture? What evidence of individual moral courage surfaces in these trials? Explain how and why such moral courage surfaces in spite of the social context of each trial. Are there similarities or differences in how such moral courage is displayed in each trial? Use observations about the characters, characters’ quotations, testimony, courtroom speeches, and primary and secondary sources to support your analysis.

Optional creative writing assessments:

• Imagine yourself in the role of the prosecuting attorney, Mr. Gilmer, in the fictional trial in To Kill a Mockingbird. In your own words, write a detailed, persuasive closing argument for him to deliver. Consider what points you must emphasize and what evidence you must downplay to make your case to the jury. Teachers may ask students to deliver their completed statements to the class.

• Step into the seat of one of the jurors in the trials. Imagine you are serving on the jury in the Scottsboro Boys and you are also serving on the jury in the To Kill a Mockingbird trial. Compare the two experiences from a juror’s point of view. Relate your thoughts on the plaintiffs and other key figures in the cases. Relate your thoughts on the closing arguments of the attorneys. (This writing activity can be framed as “Days in the Trial” through journal entries.)

• Langston Hughes along with other intellectuals responded to the injustice wrought in the Scottsboro Boys trials. Hughes rendered his outrage into verse and published a full book on this theme, Scottsboro Limited, Four Poems and a Play in Verse. (1932). View Primary Sources: Langston Hughes on Scottsboro for excerpts of Hughes’ poetry from the companion website to the PBS documentary, Scottsboro: An American Tragedy. Have students write their own original poetic response to the trials. Students may enlist the same titles as Hughes or create their own.

Film analysis of the two trials

Compare To Kill a Mockingbird, feature film (1962) and Scottsboro: An American Tragedy, documentary (2000).

Watch the movie version of To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) by Robert Mulligan. This Academy Award-winning film, based on the novel by Harper Lee, both shaped and was shaped by society.

The film maintains great relevance today. A poll by the American Film Institute asked Americans for their top fifty heroes in American film and Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch won. In 1995, the National Film Registry earmarked To Kill a Mockingbird for preservation in the Library of Congress as a “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” film.

Note: The EDSITEment-reviewed website, The Story of Movies, from 2013 Jefferson lecturer Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation, contains a series of curriculum activities with information on the context and the content of the film To Kill a Mockingbird. This may be a valuable resource in unpacking the film for discussion.

Conduct a discussion of the film using the following questions.

• Does the movie make the theme of moral courage clear?
• What do the students think of Gregory Peck’s performance as Atticus? Do they concur with the AFI poll?
• Does the film capture the content and mood of the novel? How?
• Consider if a remake of the film were to be undertaken today: What actor could be cast in the role of Atticus? Could he (or she) do justice to the role the way actor Gregory Peck did in the 1962 film?
• Are there any events in the early 21st century that cause the story to resonate with today’s audience? Why does this film still have such widespread appeal fifty years after its release?

Watch American Experience documentary film, Scottsboro: An American Tragedy (2000) by Daniel Anker, Barak Goodman.

• Compare the experience of watching the two films: What is the emotional response of the student audience to each? Which is more powerful? Which is more moving? Why?
• What social issues does the documentary raise beyond the racial injustice of this case? Are these issues also raised in the 1962 To Kill a Mockingbird film?
• What are the limitations with the historical documentary? What are the limitations with the fictional feature film? Which tells a better story? Why?
• How would such a case be handled in contemporary America? What do students think the verdict would be now?
• How might the Scottsboro Boys Trial be conveyed through a feature film? Consider what events would work to tell the story and what would not work in this medium.

You may want to consult Teaching Film Analysis in the Humanities on EDSITEment.