Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center SCOTTSBORO, ALABAMA Housed in the former home of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church of Scottsboro — built by former slaves in the late 1800s — the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center shares the story of one of America’s gravest miscarriages of justice. Here, in 1931, nine boys ages 13 to 19 were falsely accused of a raping S COTTS BO RO two white women on a train traveling through the area. In keeping with the unjust Jim Crow Laws of the South at that time, they were swiftly convicted and sentenced to death by electrocution. For the next seven years, the case dragged through the Alabama and U.S. supreme courts as people nationwide rallied against angry white mobs, the inequitable legal system and incredible odds to reverse the verdict and exonerate the boys. As one Courtesy ATD of the country’s pivotal civil rights cases, it is believed to be the inspiration behind Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.” “For the most part, this story is not taught in schools,” said Sheila Washington, founder of the museum. “[However] here in Jackson County, there is some mention of it in the city schools. National Voting Rights Museum and Institute As the museum and its story have become more SELMA, ALABAMA well-known, we’ve been getting a lot of tour groups, including college students and lots of people planning family reunions in the area.” After two centuries of oppression and disenfranchisement, the Voting The museum features exhibits, photos and Rights Act of 1965 gave African Americans sweeping voting rights at memorabilia of the old church, the nearby railroad local and state levels. station and courthouse trials, plus china, potAchieving these voting rights was the goal of the 54-mile Selma tery, glass bottles and other artifacts that once to Montgomery March in 1965, during which the initial efforts by the belonged to the African Americans who resided peaceful protestors attempting to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge ended in the former shotgun houses behind the church. in a vicious attack by law enforcement, earning that day the nickname SCOTTSBOROBOYSMUSEUM.ORG Bloody Sunday. The story of that historic march, which culminated a few weeks later on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol, and the social, political, and cultural challenges and triumphs since that time are chronicled at Selma’s National Voting Rights Museum and Institute. Here visitors will find a wide array of state-of-the-art exhibits that feature artifacts, memorabilia and other media chronicling America’s VOTI N G R I G HTS long-standing voting rights struggle, particularly as it relates to the civil rights movement throughout the South. This includes the successful reelection defeat, sparked by close to 7,000 newly registered Dallas County African Americans, of Sheriff James Gardner Clark Jr., who was responsible for the violent attacks at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Living-history projects, community forums, first-person accounts from volunteer guides who lived through the struggle and special tours are also part of the experience. NVRMI.COM
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