Browse Items (63 total)

Though he had never traveled South, a 24-year-old African American in Illinois explains to Governor Miller that he understands how to reason with the "Southern point of view." He offers to travel to Alabama to argue for the Scottsboro Boys' sentence…

Mrs. L. Miller writes to Governer Miller that the problem with the courts is that they take too long to carry out a sentence. She believes that the Scottsboro Boys, or anyone accused of rape, should be punished, and that the Northern states should…

Tuskegee Institute president Robert R. Moton writes to the Governor of Alabama on the school's letterhead, applauding the orderly punishment of crime, but stating that he hopes the courts will be equally just with African Americans as with whites.

Edward S. King writes to inform Governor Miller that International Labor Defense lawyers, Allan Taub and Douglas McKenzie, had Communist affiliations.

An African American county jail chaplain from Missouri, Rev. Capt. G. Thomas, proclaims the innocence of the Scottsboro Boys and asks the Governor to show mercy.

Rev. Burckhardt writes that he believes in "justice and fair play for all men" and hopes that Governor Miller will treat the Scottsboro Boys as innocent until proven guilty, or else there will be "a black mark" on his administration and the state of…

Martin Flowers urges Governor Miller to "stand firm" in his support for the Scottsboro trial outcome. Flowers identifies himself as a southerner and warns Governor Miller of the dangers of "Communists" and their "propergander" by describing crimes of…

Condemning the Governor and the culture and history of the South, Donald Green argues that the facts in the Scottsboro case do not indicate any guilt on behalf of the Scottsboro Boys.

An African American, Levi G. Byrd of Cheraw, South Carolina, writes to Governor Graves, who had already been succeeded by Governor Miller. Byrd urges the Governor to look into the case thoroughly, given the enlightening information he has found in…

T. Gaines Elkins, who had served on the jury, insists with the Governor that his decision was influenced in no way by outside forces, but was made based only on state laws and the evidence provided in the courtroom. He believes that the Scottsboro…