The Allegations

On March 25, 1931, groups of white and black men and two white women were riding a Southern Railroad freight train traveling from Chatanooga to Memphis. Four black Chatanooga teenagers rode the train to Memphis because of rumored government jobs available hauling logs along with five other boys from Georgia. During the journey, a white teen stepped on Hayward Patterson's hand while walking across the top of a freight car. A fight broke out between the boys, which involved throwing stones and resulted in all but one white being thrown off the train. Orville Gilley, the remaining white youth, was pulled back on the train once it had reached dangerous speeds. The whites who were forced off the train reported the attack in Stevenson, where a message was sent to stop the train("Scottsboro Boys"). When the train stopped in Paint Rock, Alabama, the two women, nine black man, and one white man were arrested for charges of vagrancy. The two women, Victoria Price, 21, and Ruby Bates,17, remained in jail for possible violation of the Mann Act. The Mann Act prevents taking a minor across state boarders, to prevent immoral practices such as prostitution. The police were informed that Price was a known prostitue, while both were later referred to as promiscuous; the two women were involved in a crime when they left Tennessee for Alabama("Historical Context:The Scottsboro Trials"). The African American Boys, Haywood Patterson, 18, Charles Weems, 19, Clarence Norris, 19, Andy Wright, 19, Ozzie Powell, 16, Olen Montgomery, 17, Eugene Williams, 19, Willie Roberson, 17, and Roy Wright, 12, were charged with rape and were tried in four separate trials. http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/scottsboro/SB_train.html http://www.thatsalabama.com/civilwrongs /scottsboro/scottsboroboyspricebates200wopt.jpg