By Kenneth J. Bartschi
- Jul 15, 2019
The Scottsboro Boys: Musical Theater and the Law
I concede bias up front: I am a musical theater nerd. You’ve been warned. One of the reasons I love musicals is that they often inject serious social commentary between dance breaks and 11 o’clock numbers. The practice is time honored. Show Boat premiered in 1927 and tackled racial prejudice as did South Pacific in 1949. The current Broadway revival of Oklahoma!, which originally premiered in 1943, doesn’t change a word of the original score yet the dark presentation mak
By Wesley W. Horton
- Jul 15, 2019
The Scottsboro Boys: Case Synopsis
The Scottsboro Boys is based on an actual rape case in Alabama in 1931 where seven black boys were accused of raping two white girls on an open car on a freight train. The alleged crime occurred on March 25; the boys were arrested that day and arraigned on March 31 on capital charges. On April 6, counsel was appointed and trial immediately began before an all-white jury. All the defendants were convicted and sentenced to death. On appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court, the judg
