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Writers Background

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Task

1.Group discussion on the

background of the author.

2.Group discussion on historicalperspectives and its influence in

shaping the novel.

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Writers Background

Birthday:

28 April 1926

Real Name:

Nelle Harper Lee Youngest among 5

siblings

Hometown:

Monroeville,

Alabama.

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Father

Name: Amasa Coleman Lee

Occupation:

Former newspaper editor and proprietor Practiced law and served in the Alabama

State Legislature from 1926 to 1938.

Defended two black men accused of

murdering a white storekeeper.

Atticus Finch is written based on him.

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Writers Background

Developed an interest in English Literaturewhen enrolled at Monroe County High School.

After graduation, Lee went to HuntingdonCollege in Montgomery.

Spent eight years working odd jobsbefore shefinally showed a manuscript to Tay Hohoff, aneditor at J.B. Lippincott.

Her only published work: To Kill A Mockingbird Closely acquainted with Truman Capote,

another author.

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Writers Background

Harper Lee is an unruly tomboy. It is said that Jean Louise Scout Finch is

based on herself. Further supported by the fact that Harper Lee

often fight at playgrounds during childhoodyears.

Her friendship with Truman Capote Dills character is based on Truman Capote,

who was her schoolmate and neighbour. Like Dill and Jem, Lees older brother and

Capote were childhood playmates too.

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Articles Published

15 April 1961Love In Other WordsVogue, pp. 6465

December 1961Christmas to MeMcCall's

August 1965When Children Discover AmericaMcCall's

1983Romance and High Adventurea paper presented in

Eufaula, Alabama and collected in 1985 in theanthology Clearings in the Thicket.

July 2006Open letter to Oprah WinfreyO: The Oprah

Magazine

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Historical Perspectives Scottsboro Trials

Occurred in the 1930s

Like Scout and the Robinson case, Lee was six when theScottsboro Trials gained publicity.

Scottsboro Trials Tom Robinson Trials

Took place in northern Alabama Took place in southern Alabama

Began with a charge of rape made by

white women against African American

men

Begins with a charge of rape made by a

white woman against an African

American man

The poor white status of the accuserswas a critical issue. The poor white status of Mayella is acritical issue.

A central figure was a heroic judge, a

member of the Alabama Bar who

overturned a guilty jury verdict against

African American men.

A central figure is Atticus, lawyer,

legislator and member of the Alabama

Bar, who defends an African American

man.

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Scottsboro Trials Tom Robinson Trials

This judge went against public sentimentin trying to protect the rights of the

African American defendants.

Atticus arouses anger in the community intrying to defend Tom Robinson.

The first juries failed to include any

African Americans, a situation which

caused the U.S. Supreme Court tooverturn the guilty verdict.

The verdict is rendered by a jury of poor

white residents of Old Sarum.

The jury ignored evidence, for example,

that the women suffered no injuries.

The jury ignores evidence, for example,

that Tom has a useless left arm.

Attitudes about Southern women and

poor whites complicated the trial.

Attitudes about Southern women and

poor whites complicate the trial of Tom

Robinson.

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Historical Perspectives

The Civil Rights EraYear Events

1954 United States Supreme Court rules in Brown vs. Board of Education of

Topeka, Kansas, that racial segregation in the public schools is inherently

unequal and, therefore, illegal.

1955 Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery city

bus.

Boycott of Montgomery County city buses begins officially.

Emmett Till, a young African American man, is murdered while visiting the

South.1956 Autherine Lucy receives a letter granting permission to enroll for classes at

the U. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa.

Home of Martin Luther King, Jr. is bombed in Montgomery. King is a leader

in the boycott and designated spokesperson.

Motions are filed in U.S. District Court calling for an end to bus segregation.

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Year Events

Violence erupts on the campus of the U. of Alabama and in the streets of

Tuscaloosa; continuing for three days. (TV evening news and Movietone

newsreels showing "Week In Review" newsclips in between feature films in

movie theaters documented these events.)

Autherine Lucy is forced to flee U. of Alabama campus; the university's Board

of Trustees bars her from campus. (TV/ Movietone)

Warrants are issued for arrest of 115 leaders of the Montgomery busboycott.

Autherine Lucy ordered by the courts to be re-admitted to U. of Alabama,

only to be expelled by Board of Trustees. (TV / Movietone)

U.S. Supreme Court decides in favor of Montgomery bus boycotters, by ruling

bus segregation illegal.

African Americans first board buses in Montgomery, according to a first-

come, first-served basis. (TV/Movietone)

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Year Events

1957 Federal troops sent to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce court- ordered

desegregation of schools. (TV/Movietone)

1960 Publication of To Kill A Mockingbird in the Fall (Shoots to top of NY TimesBest Seller list) ...In Greensboro, N.C., attempt to integrate lunch counters

is thwarted (TV/Movietone).

1961 Charlayne Hunter enters the U. of Georgia through lines of jeering white

protesters (TV/Movietone)

Freedom Riders begin arriving in the deep South to test desegregation.Violence necessitates the deployment of federal troops. (Major TV news

event/Movietone )

Violence erupts at U. of Mississippi over integration (featured on TV

networks, in newspapers and magazines/Movietone).

To Kill A Mockingbird, is released; the screen adaptation by Horton Foote

receives 5 Academy Award nominations.

1963 Dogs and power hoses are directed at peaceful demonstrators in

Birmingham, Alabama; America watched on TV news.

Three Civil Rights workers are found murdered in Mississippi.

Massive Civil Rights March is held in Washington, D.C.

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Year Events

1964 The Civil Rights Act is passed.

1965 March for Voting Rights is held in Selma,

Alabama.

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Civil Rights Chronology

May 17, 1954

- The Supreme Court issued its landmarkBrown v. Board of Education of Topeka

ruling, which declared that raciallysegregated public schools were inherently

unequal.

Dec 1, 1955- Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give upher seat on a Montgomery Bus.

Dec 6, 1955- Boycott of Montgomery city

buses begins officially.

Jan 30, 1956

- The home of Martin Luther King, Jr., is bombed inMontgomery. The bombing inspired the MontgomeryImprovement Association (MIA) to file a federal suit directlyattacking the laws establishing bus segregation.

Feb 3, 1956

- Autherine Lucy enrolled as a graduate student in library science,becoming the first African American ever admitted to a white

public school or university in the state.

Feb 4, 1956- Violence erupts on the campus of the

University of Alabama and in the streets of

Tuscaloosa. it continues for three days.

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Feb 11, 1956- Autherine Lucy is forced to flee

the campus. The university's Boardof Trustees bars her from campus.

Feb 22, 1956- Warrants are issued for the arrest of 115 leaders ofthe Montgomery bus boycott.

Feb 29, 1956- Autherine Lucy is ordered by the

courts to be readmitted to theuniversity, only to be expelled by

the Board of Trustees.

Nov.13, 1956- United States Supreme Court

decides in favor of Montgomerybus boycotters, by ruling bussegregation illegal.

Dec. 21, 1956- African-Americans first board buses in

Montgomery, Alabama, according to a first-come,first-served basis.

Sept. 1957- Federal troops are sent to Little Rock,

Arkansas, to enforce court-ordered

desegregation of schools.

Fall 1960

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Fall 1960- Publication of To Kill a Mockingbird.In North Carolina, an attempt is made

to integrate lunch counters inGreensboro.

1961- Freedom Riders attempted to test desegregation in

the deep South. Violence necessitates the deploymentof federal troops.

Sept. 1961- An attempt is made to integrate the

University of Mississippi. Lives are lost in theviolence that ensues.

Sept. 15, 1963- Four children died when thechurch they were attending wasbombed in Birmingham.

May 9, 1992- Autherine Lucy receives her Masters degree in education

from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Theuniversity named an endowed scholarship in her honour

and unveiled a portrait of her in the student unionoverlooking the most trafficked spot on campus.

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Conclusion

To Kill a Mockingbird is a close

replication of Harper Lees life, growingup in an era where racial discriminationswere highlighted and reformed.