On Mar. 25, 1931, the Scottsboro nine, nine young African Americans, were falsely charged with rape and collectively served more than 100 years in prison.

The right of African Americans to serve on juries was established by their case. For more info including timeline, primary sources, see the website for the film Scottsboro: An American Tragedy from PBS http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/scottsboro/index.html

Top: 1933 protest at the White House. The protest was led by Mother Patterson, the mother of accused Heywood Patterson.

Bottom: "Don't Let Them Burn!"--ILD 6-panel folder with petitions to fill out and send to Alabama Governor Bibb Graves and Attorney General A. A. Carmichael. From: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/boyle/protestexhibit.htm

Via Zinn Education Project