Group+2--Scottsboro+Boys+Tribute

Group 2--Scottsboro Boys Tribute Mica Moeller-Boys' Stories Kelli Meyer- How it was resolved Sarah Leonard- What happened

** What happened? **  In 1931, 9 African American teenage boys on a train to Alabama were accused of raping 2 white women. The women accusing these boys of rape were Victoria Price and Ruby Bates who were 21 and 17 years old. The boys were Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williams, Olen Montgomery, Andy Wright, Roy Wright, Haywood Patterson, Clarence Norris, and Charlie Weems. 4 of the boys were from Chattanooga, hoping to find jobs in Memphis, where it had been rumored the government had job openings on the river. The other 5 were from different parts of Georgia, and all of them were riding on the top of the train. A white male walked across the top of the train and stepped on one of the black boy's hands. The white boy and his group of friends got into a fight with the black boys and all of the white boys but one were thrown off the train. The boys who were thrown off went to the stationmaster to report an assault. The word spread and the train was stopped. Officers surrounded the train and rounded up all the African American boys and took them to the Scottsboro jail. Officers also found Victoria Price and Ruby Bates on the train, dressed like men. They told the officers that they had been raped by nine black boys with knives and guns. The trial of the Scottsboro Boys began twelve days later. Their story became so popular they even made a play about it. media type="youtube" key="9EzO7CeSP6Q" width="425" height="350" [] **Olen Montgomery** - was 17 at the time of his arrest, and was from Monroe, Georgia. Olen was pratically blind, and kept a plausible story the whole time. He said he was alone in a tank car during the alleged rape. He was one of the four Scottsboro Boys released in July 1937. After being released Montgomery could not hold a job for more than a couple months, and became a heavy drinker. He settled in Georgia in 1960. ** Charles Weems -** was 19 at the time of his arrest. He was from Atlanta, Georgia. He was involved in a fight aboard the freight. In 1937 he was teergassed and beaten for reading a communist literature. He was paroled in 1943. Weems moved back to Atlanta and married. He also took a job in laundry. **Andrew Wright** - was 19 at the time of his arrest. He was from Chattanooga Tennessee. He was involved in the fight with the white boys aboard the train. He was described to be the best natured of all the boys. He was frequently ill and depressed. Andy was paroled in January 1944. Moved to Mobile and married. He also had a job for two years driving a grocery delivery truck. He broke parole and was back in prison until 1950. He then moved to Albany and New York City. He was later accused of raping a 13 year old girl.

**Clarence Norris**- was age 19. He was from Georgia. He had also been involved in the fight on the train. He was always fighting in prison. On one incident in 1943 he was thrown in the hole for 10 days only given water, a blanket, and bread. He was paroled in 1944. He moved to New York. In violation of his parole he was back in prison then paroled again in 1946. Norris then got a job shoveling coal for three years in Cleveland. Then moved to New York City and became a dishwasher. ** Ozie Powell- ** was 16 when he was arrested. He was from Atlanta, Georgia. He was not involved in the train fight. Powell was quiet and shy. Ozzie one time slashed an officers neck with a pen. He was shot in the head but survived with brain damage. He was released from prison in June 1946. He moved back to Georgia. ** Eugene Williams ** - was 13 when he was arrested. From Chattanooga Tennessee. Williams was involved in the fight with the white boys on the train. He was described as sullen. The state dropped charges in July 1937. He landed a job in a jazz orchestra. Then moved to St. Louis, Missouri. **Willie Roberson-** was 17 when he was arrested. From Chattanooga Tennessee. Roberson had a serious case of syphillis and was unable to wake without a cane. He was released from the charges on July 1937. After being released he lived in New York city where he found work.

**Hayward Patterson-** Was 18 when he was arrested. He was from Chattanooga and already worked on t he railroads. When he first entered jail he could not read or write but within 8 months he could do both. In 1941, he was stabbed 20 time by another prisoner paid by a guard to kill Haywood. He escaped twice and during the second escape he made it back to Chattanooga and stayed with his sister in Detroit. In 1950, he was thrown back in jail for killing a man and died two years later. [|http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/scottsboro/SB_bSBs.html#Clarence%20Norris] **How it Was Resolved?** . The case never came to a complete end and each of the boys lives were completely changed forever. There were 3 different trials throughout the case. Four of the boys were pardoned, 4 were paroled and Haywood Patterson died while still in prison. Six years after being arrested during the second trial, in July 1937, Roy Wright, Eugene Williams, Willie Roberson and Olen Montgomery were pardoned from the case. Roy Wright and Eugene Williams were only 12 to 13 years old during the alleged rape and were released because of their young age. Willie Roberson and Olen Montgomery were freed since they were not seen near the rape during that time. The next boy to be released was Charles Weems in1943. After him in 1944, Clarence Norris and Andy Wright were let go, but both violated their paroles and were not released again until 1946 and 1950. In 1946, Ozie Powell was finally freed. Haywood Patterson had the roughest time in prison and the hardest punishments. He spent 16 years in Alabama prisons and was sentenced to death three times, but finally was sentenced to 75 years in jail. Haywood escaped two times. After his last escape in 1947 he lived underground until he was arrested again in 1950 by the FBI. At the age of 39 he died in the jail from cancer. Roy Wright was the only boy out of the 9 to try to have a normal life after the trials. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAscotsboro.htm
 * Roy Wright-** Was 12 or 13 when he was arrested and was the youngest of all the boys. He was from Chattanooga and his brother, Andy Wright another one of the convicted boys. He told authorities he saw the others rape the white girls, but later said he was the one who did it after being beaten. All his charges were dropped in 1937. Roy Wright then went into the military, got married and found a job. In 1959, he thought his wife cheated on him so he shot and killed her and himself.