Letter from Miss South Carolinean [Carolinian] to President Franklin Roosevelt Regarding the Scottsboro Case
4/10/1933
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In this letter a woman who describes herself as a southern colored girl in New York and signs her letter as Miss South Carolinean [Carolinian], pleads for President Roosevelt to save the Scottsboro boys from death.
For more information about the Scottsboro case, read
The Scottsboro Boys: Injustice in Alabama from the Spring 2014 issue of Prologue, the Quarterly Publication of the National Archives.
Additional details from our exhibits and publications
“I don’t know whether I am doing a right deed as to plead to you. But I do know that I am all right to plead for my race…I am a Southern colored girl in New York.” –Miss South Carolinian, April 10, 1933 Clarence Norris, Charlie Weems, Haywood Patterson, Ozie Powell, Willie Robertson, Eugene Williams, Olen Montgomery, Andy Wright, and Ray Wright were known as the “Scottsboro Boys.” In 1931, the nine African Americans were tried and convicted of assault and rape in Alabama by all-white juries within two weeks. Eight were sentenced to death. In this letter to Franklin Roosevelt, “Miss South Carolinian” asked for the President’s help. The initial speedy trials, the age of the defendants, the racial bias of the juries and the severity of the sentences led to arguments that the defendants never received fair trials and a movement to free them. Their case went to the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled they were denied the right to counsel, violating their right to due process under the 14th amendment. Eventually, their sentences were commuted and charges against four were dropped, but their lives were forever changed as most spent years in jail. On November 21, 2013, posthumous pardons were issued by the state of Alabama to Charlie Weems, Andy Wright and Haywood Patterson.
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New York City, N.Y.
Apr. 10, 1933
Pres. F.D. Roosevelt
Washington, D.C.
Dear Sir.
I don't know whether (sp?) I am doing a right deed as to plead to you. But I do know that I am all right to plead for my race.
Pres. Roosevelt, since it may be in your power. Can you for God's sake save those poor Scottsboro Ala. colored boys from death.
After all, they didn't murder anyone. Why should they die? I am not asking you dear President to free them, unless they really deserve freedom. But I am asking you to please take them from under that heavy yoke of "death." Help us please for Christ's sake.
I am a Southern colored girl in New York.
(Miss) South Carolinean
This primary source comes from the General Records of the Department of Justice.
National Archives Identifier:
7858649Full Citation: Letter from Miss South Carolinean [Carolinian] to President Franklin Roosevelt Regarding the Scottsboro Case; 4/10/1933; General Records of the Department of Justice, Record Group 60. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/letter-from-miss-south-carolinean-[carolinian]-to-president-franklin-roosevelt-regarding-the-scottsboro-case, March 29, 2024]