Remembering the Scottsboro Trials

On Monday, March 29^th two authors will be on hand to talk about Scottsboro Boys and the trials that followed their conviction. Dr. James Miller, Professor of English and American Studies and Chair of American Studies Department at George Washington University, and Dr. Susan Pennybacker, a modern British and European specialist on the faculty of Trinity College in Connecticut, will speak at 4 p.m. at the University Chapel.



The story of the Scottsboro Boys and subsequent trials began in 1931, when nine black youths were charged with raping two white women. Despite little and contradictory evidence, all nine were found guilty and eight of the defendants were sentenced to death. The trail and the fate of the young men became an international cause and influenced not only the legal system but also American culture at large.



Miller's book, Remembering Scottsboro: The Legacy of an Infamous Trial, was published last year by Princeton University Press. In the book, Miller focuses on the trajectory of the notorious case and its aftermath in fiction, poetry, drama and film from the 1930s until recent times, as well as how this case lodged in American memory and become a lens for perceptions of race, class, sexual politics, and justice. Miller recently appeared on PBS's popular "History Detectives" to discuss the case.

Pennybacker's most recent book is From Scottsboro to Munich: Race and Political Culture in 1930s Britain, also published last year by Princeton University Press. In it, she examines the British Scottsboro defense campaign and follows a global network of individuals and organizations that challenged the racism and colonialism of the era. She looks at British, imperial and transatlantic political culture of the 1930s--from Jim Crow, to imperial London, to the events leading to the Munich Crisis--offering a new perspective on the conflicts, politics and solidarities of the years leading to World War II.

The program is jointly sponsored by the Department of History and the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities, both in the Auburn University College of Liberal Arts, and the University of Alabama's New College. Pennybacker and Miller will also present in Tuscaloosa, Scottsboro, and Tuskegee. The Auburn program is free and open to the public. Copies of the books will be available for purchase and signing.