Scottsboro Rape Trials. In the 1930s it was not uncommon for the young and unemployed to hitch rides on passing freight trains. Such was the case on March 25 1931 when nine young, boys of African American descent ages 13-21 hopped aboard a train in Tennes
The Long Road for the Scottsboro Boys
In the 1930s it was not uncommon for the young and unemployed to hitch rides on passing freight trains. Such was the case on March 25 1931 when nine young, boys of African American descent ages 13-21 hopped aboard a train in Tennessee, bound for Paint Rock Alabama. .The nine were not alone on the train, there were also a group of white teenage boys and two white females. It was no smooth ride, shortly after leaving Tennessee, a fight broke out between the both groups of boys. Rumours have circulated that the white teens were thrown off the train in the frenzy but is suspected they jumped. Angry and seeking revenge, some of the white youth made false reports to authorities that the blacks had assaulted the white women that were still aboard the train. When the train arrived in Paint Rock, the young teens were greeted by the police, everyone was taken into custody including all nine black boys and two teenage girls, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates.
