Browse Items (143 total)

A Southern woman living in New York, Anne Pierce argues that, whether the Scottsboro Boys are guilty, their treatment in jail is "a relic of medieval torture quite indefensible." She writes that handling the youth in this manner does not help prevent…

Rev. A. V. Pierce, a World War I veteran, wonders why African Americans in the United States may fight for justice but receive none at home. He asks Governor Miller to give justice to African Americans.

The Phyllis Wheatley Club asks why rape is punishable by death in Alabama and why the state disregards constitutional law by refusing to allow African Americans to serve on juries. The club asks about other specifics of the case and urges Governor…

Responding to the 1933 Decatur trial and claiming the Scottsboro Boys' innocence, employees of Pennsylvania Dye Works ask for the defendants' unconditional and immediate release and declare a half-hour work stoppage in protest. This resolution is one…

Signed and sent by Elena Paskel, this form postcard is from the Church, School, Fraternal and Social Services Groups of Philadelphia, who cooperate with the Scottsboro Case Committee of Philadelphia. The postcard enumerates the group's appeals in…

This letter describes that the two women involved in the Scottsboro case—Victoria Price and Ruby Bates—were dressed in men's clothing and "ho boting," or hoboing, on the train as the Scottsboro Boys were. W. P. believes that the boys did nothing more…

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…

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…

Warren P. Norton—the superintendent of public schools in Meadville, Pennsylvania—writes that although the communists of the International Labor Defense have control of the defense for the Scottsboro Boys, people should not keep from protesting…

Signed by "Dr. George G. Mehlen" and representing 1,161 members, this letter from the Negro Businessmen's League (NBL) of Corona, New York, protests the 1933 verdicts from Judge Callahan's court and declares the Scottsboro defendants' innocence. It…