Browse Items (63 total)

Quoting Ruby Bates' confession that the Scottsboro Boys never accosted her, Leopold Stokowski asks the Governor to release the Scottsboro Boys and give them a safe conduct home. He hopes the Governor will use his best judgment, as he admits he finds…

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…

In this religious letter, Lillian W. Crocker asks that the Governor give this case his consideration and attention. She writes that as "one of the human family and the Christian Army" she has fasted and prayed for the Scottsboro Boys' comfort. She…

Luke Osburn asks Governor Miller to use his influence to give the Scottsboro Boys a just trial. He writes that he does not criticize the state of Alabama and he is not particularly interested in the Scottsboro Boys themselves, but he is especially…

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…

Mary J. Biggs, an Alabamian, writes that the International Labor Defense asked her for a contribution to the Scottsboro Boys' fund. Because she did not have the money, she decides to write to Governor Miller to ask that he protect the boys.

Two Puerto Rican communists plead with the Governor to postpone the execution of the Scottsboro Boys. The letter makes the case for postponement by advocating against the death penalty in all contexts and asks the Governor to show mercy for his own…

Three women from Bailey Island, Maine, ask Governor Miller to exert his influence in the Scottsboro case and write that the American people would be like the Nazis of Germany or the despots of Russia if they did not ensure that everyone had a fair…

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…

N. Henshaw writes to Governor Miller that the Scottsboro Boys should have been burned or skinned, makes veiled references to lynching in mentioning that in the past it "wasn't necessary to tax the state with the expense of a trial in a thing of this…