The Scottsboro Boys in Their Own Words: Selected Letters, 1931-1950

This is a collection of letters written by the nine African American defendants in the infamous March 1931 Scottsboro, Alabama, rape case. Though most of the defendants were barely literate and all were teenagers when incarcerated, over the course of almost two decades in prison they learned the rudiments of effective letter writing and in doing so forcefully expressed a wide range of perspectives on the falsity of the charges against them as their incarceration became a cause celebre both in the United States and internationally. Central to this book is the chronologically structured presentation of letters (1931-1950), including some correspondence from attorneys and members of Scottsboro support committees. The original grammar, syntax and vernacular of the defendants are maintained in a desire to preserve the authenticity of these letters.

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents Acknowledgments Preface Introduction  1: Letters from 1931: Establishing the Legal Ground  2: Letters from 1932: Counselors for the Wise  3: Letters from 1933: Clash of Concerns  4: Letters from 1934: Scottsboro Mothers  5: Letters from 1935: Black Jurors Wanted  6: Letters from 1936: Psychology of Oppression  7: Letters from 1937: Four Down, Five to Go  8: Letters from 1938: Jail Rot  9: Letters from 1939: To be Free, and Then What 10: Letters from 1940: Pushed to the Limits 11: Letters from 1941: Dear Miss Hester Huntington 12: Letters from 1942: The ILD Way 13: Letters from 1943: Reaching Outward 14: Letters from 1944: To Be Paroled or Not 15: Letters from 1945: Patterson’s Burden 16: Letters from 1946: Andy Wright’s Return 17: Letters from 1947: The Cost of Parole 18: Letters from 1948: Patterson’s Guile 19: Letters from 1950: Andy’s Walk Postscript Appendices deleteA. Report of the “Traveling Salesman” deleteB. Kilby State Prison deleteC. The Death of Janie Patterson deleteD. Death Warrant of Haywood Patterson References Index

About the Author :
Kwando M. Kinshasa is a professor of African American Studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York.

Review :
“Remains in our historical memory, both questioning and defining civil rights in Depression America...remarkably gives the case a new perspective...strongly recommended”—Library Journal; “though many of the Scottsboro Nine were illiterate at the time of their arrest, the letters collected here show their intellectual development as they grew from youth caught up in the usual mistreatment of blacks in the rural South to men part of an international cause célèbre”—Booklist; “this book makes a much-needed contribution to the scholarship on the Scottsboro case, and is strongly recommended for researchers and faculty interested in race and the criminal justice system. Highly recommended”—Choice.