JURY TRIALS FOR THE CLASSROOM
Bringing the Scottsboro Boys in the U.S. History Classroom
Scottsboro Portfolio Assignment
Scottsboro Boys Quiz and Student Answer Form
Resources from the Chicago Historical Society
Norris v. State of Alabama

Bringing the Scottsboro Boys Into the U. S. History Classroom

Beth Wiley
Leesville Road High School
Raleigh, North Carolina

Introduction

This lesson plan was produced as part of the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago's "The American Jury: Bulwark of Democracy" summer program. My goal in creating this lesson plan was to make the information that I gained during the summer conference available and useful to social studies teachers in North Carolina. If you use these materials and/or have suggestions for improvements or alternate applications, I would be grateful for your help in revising them to make them more useful to students and teachers (awiley@wcpss.net).

Application to North Carolina Social Studies Curricula

The trials of the Scottsboro boys are suitable for inclusion in a variety of social studies courses. As a teacher of the law and justice elective course, I can easily imagine being able to spend a week or so delving into the trials themselves as a means of illustrating concepts ranging from the process of jury selection to the routes of appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. I hope that I have provided a broad enough sample of documents that those who are interested in incorporating the Scottsboro trials into their teaching of ELPS, law and justice, sociology, and other courses will find something relevant for their classrooms.

In preparing this lesson plan, however, I have focused on the required course of U.S. history. I have chosen this focus because I struggle to balance the demands of "covering" our action-packed U.S. history curriculum with the need to study history in enough depth that it is meaningful; in researching the Scottsboro boys' trials, I found such rich resources that I became convinced that this topic provides a good window on some of the most critical (and EOC-friendly) areas of our study of American history. The challenge of designing a lesson that would take advantage of this opportunity intrigued me.

Goals of this Lesson

Knowledge Goals

Students will be able to:

  1. Explain the course of events leading to the trials of the Scottsboro boys.
  2. Identify ways in which the process for selecting juries in the Scottsboro boys' trials influenced the outcomes of the trials.
  3. Analyze the legal arguments made by lawyers for the Scottsboro boys and for the State of Alabama.
  4. Place the Scottsboro boys' trials in the broader context of American history, examining the relevance of New Immigration, the labor movement, the Great Depression and the New Deal, the Jazz Age, and/or race relations in the South to the events at Scottsboro.

Skill Goals:

Students will be able to:

  1. Identify the perspectives of a variety of local and national individuals and groups on the Scottsboro trials and on the coverage of the trials by the International Labor Defense, by the NAACP, and by local and national newspapers.
  2. Create nonfiction pieces (newspaper, timeline, biography, etc.) that synthesize and explain events surrounding the Scottsboro boys' arrests and trials.
  3. Create fiction or art (poem, mock interview, play, cartoon, etc.) that demonstrates an understanding of events surrounding the Scottsboro boys' arrests and trials and conveys a personal perspective or opinion on the chosen subject(s).

  1. Introduction to the Assignment (15-20 minutes)
    1. This project will be assigned to complement instruction on the period 1900-1950
      1. Related topics in U.S. history
        1. Jim Crow laws and segregation in the South
        2. NAACP actions in the South
        3. the labor movement in the South
        4. Supreme Court decisions applying the 14th Amendment to the states
        5. New Deal politics -- race and class tension
      2. The Jazz Age -- African American reactions to race and class oppression
      3. Teacher may choose to assign this project concurrently with or subsequent to instruction on the Great Depression and New Deal.

    2. Teacher will explain the historical context for the Scottsboro boys' trials
      1. See "The Scottsboro Boys" article by Olive Vassell and Brian Klaas for a summary of the events
      2. If possible, teacher should avoid "telling the story" of the events that led to the trials
        1. students should be able to piece together the chain of events
        2. students should be able to identify the viewpoints represented by principals in the trials

    3. Students will be assigned to portfolio production groups of 4-6 students
      1. Grouping may be homogeneous (by grades, etc.), heterogeneous, or student-selected, depending on teacher's choice
        1. for "pure" cooperative learning, assign students to heterogeneous groups
        2. if considerable collaborative work is to be done outside of class, student-selected groups may work best

      2. Evaluation will combine grades for the group's entire portfolio and for individuals' contributions to the portfolio and mastery of the material
        1. review rubric with class
        2. explain format of quiz
    4. Teacher will explain the portfolio creation process

      1. Goal 1: to place primary source documents related to the Scottsboro boys' trials in the broader sweep of American history
      2. Goal 2: to provide individual students with a chance to demonstrate their understanding of the Scottsboro boys' trials and of related themes in history in a variety of ways
      3. Goal 3: to encourage students to work collaboratively to produce a portfolio that demonstrates their shared understanding of the Scottsboro boys' trials.

  2. Portfolio Creation

    1. Time Frame: 1-2 weeks (depending on how much class time is allotted, logistical constraints, etc.)

    2. Initial Group Meeting: Ideally, students should have at least half an hour, perhaps spread over two class periods, to plan their work

    3. Interim Group Meeting: At least a few days before the portfolio is due, students should be allowed at least 30 minutes to discuss their progress, review each other's rough drafts, and solve any problems that have occurred since they assigned tasks at the initial meeting. Students should have ample time to make notes for writing their evaluations of one item in the portfolio other than those on which they worked.

    4. Final Group Meeting: The day before the portfolio is due, the group should be given 35-45 minutes to tie up any loose ends and to write item 11 (Letter to the Scottsboro Boys).

    5. In-class Evaluation: Individual quiz on the Scottsboro boys' trials (20-30 minutes)

    6. Teacher may choose to (devote some class time to sharing groups portfolios and to reflecting on the process of creating portfolios.

      1. possibly appropriate as a journal entry, letter to the teacher, or class discussion
      2. a survey of students' reactions to the project might be useful
  3. Cross-Curricular Extensions

    1. English -- To Kill A Mockingbird
      1. Similarities: there are significant similarities between Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird and the events surrounding the Scottsboro boys
        1. subject matter: a poor black man accused of rape by a poor white woman of questionable reputation
        2. setting: rural Alabama during the Great Depression
        3. themes: racial tension, the threat of mob violence, conviction of a black man based on contested circumstantial evidence, presence of Southern whites willing to defend accused black(s) against incendiary charges
      2. Teacher Resources
        1. video of the Academy Award-winning film based on the novel
        2. relevant excerpts from the novel
          1. Atticus' closing argument
          2. Atticus and Jem discussing juries
      3. Technology Connections
        1. Web sites on the Scottsboro boys
          1. courttv.com
          2. http://www.coloredreflections.com/color/70/Scottsboro.htm
          3. http://www.afroam.org/history/scottlscotts.html
          4. http://www.lausd.k12.ca.usibelmont_hs/tkm/backgroundJinks.html

      Thanks

      The limitations of this lesson are my responsibility, but the ideas that it contains were contributed by a wealth of generous sources. In particular, when I returned to Raleigh energized by the CRFC's summer seminar, I found wonderful advice and constructive criticism in my department, as usual. In particular, Mary Propes, Patsy Stone, Angie Panel-Holthausen, Stephanie Dean, and Jennifer Facciolini have always given their time and insight freely, and their willingness to help me improve this project has been invaluable.