In March 1931, two white women in Alabama made the shocking accusation that they had been raped by nine Black teenagers on a train. So began the Scottsboro case, one of the 20th century's fieriest legal battles. The trial generated the sharpest regional conflict since the Civil War, led to momentous Supreme Court decisions, and helped give birth to the civil rights movement.
In March 1931, two white women in Alabama made the shocking accusation that they had been raped by nine Black teenagers on a train. So began the Scottsboro case, one of the 20th century's fieriest legal battles. The trial generated the sharpest regional conflict since the Civil War, led to momentous Supreme Court decisions, and helped give birth to the civil rights movement.
