1010 1212outout ofofStudent GuideStudent Guide

music and lyrics by

JOHN KANDERAND

FRED EBB

book by

DAVIDTHOMPSON

original direction andchoreography recreated by

JEFFWHITING

original directionand choreography by

SUSANSTROMAN

at thePHILADELPHIA THEATRE COMPANY

2011-12 SEASON

WWHHOO Were the Scottboro Boys?Nine African Amercian boys, who came to be known asthe Scottsboro Boys, were riding the rails of a SouthernRailroad train going from Chattanooga to Memphis, Tennessee on March 25th, 1931.

WWHHEENN It All Went South

When one of the white boysstepped on one of the blackboy's hands, a stone throwingfight erupted on the train.When the white boys werepushed from the train, theytold authorities they'd been assaulted. The train wasstopped in Scottsboro, Alabama to be searched.When police also found twowomen riding the rails theywere about to arrest them forvagrancy when one of thewomen, Victoria Price, saidshe and the other female hadbeen raped by the nineAfrican American boys.

HHOOWW Do They Tell the Story?

The four collaboratorsdecided to use the format of a minstrelshow to tell the Scottsboro boys’ story.A popular form of performance in earlyAmerica,minstrelshows exploited blackstereotypes to entertain. In THESCOTTSBORO BOYSmusical, the boys startoff the show participat-ing in this format but as

the razzel dazzle unravels, revealing thetruth, they refuse to “play their parts”.

WWHHAATT is Riding the Rails?During the Great Depression, jobs were scarce and people were desperate to support themselves and theirfamilies. When they heard news of work in other cities orstates, they would hop on moving freight trains to ride for

free (and illegally), and that practice was dubbed “riding the rails”.

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It was 23 years ago when composer John Kander, lyricist Fred Ebb, book writer David Thompson and director/choreographer Susan Stroman first collaborated together. Wanting to create together again, the four sat

down around Fred Ebb’s kitchen table and brainstormed - the result was THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS.

WWHHYY Tell This Story?"As a young boy growing up in Kansas City, I remember when the Scottsboro boys were first in the headlines. I remember the conversationswith my parents about what the trials meant. I am sure there were similarconversations around kitchen tables across the country. I also remember when the headlines began to fade, and the Scottsboroboys graduallydisappeared from the national spotligh

- John Kander, composer of THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS

Given Circumstances

The Scottsboro boys surrounded by Alabama National Guardsmenin the Decatur, Alabama jail (1933). Seated with their defenselawyer Samuel Liebowitz, is HAYWOOD PATTERSON. Behindthem left to right are: OLEN MONTGOMERY, CLARENCE NORRIS,WILLIE ROBERSON, ANDY WRIGHT, OZIE POWELL, EUGENEWILLIAMS, CHARLIE WEEMS and ROY WRIGHT.

Why Now?"It's essential to bring the Scottsboro boys

back into the national conversation about race. Ninelives were destroyed. Nine lives that matter every bit as

much now as then." - from the introduction to THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS

“With Kander and Ebb, I heard my feelings stated exactly as I felt them, in thekind of language that I thought was so marvelously straight-ahead and in the moment."

- Liza Minelli, star of CABARET

"When we're at our best, we sound like

one person." - composer John Kander

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A Singular StyleMany of Kander and Ebb's musicals

feature the underdog who is faced withlarger than life circumstances. They arealso known for their concept musicals,using the music and performance style of a specific time and place for their story. InCHICAGO, they utilized the razzle-dazzle of vaudeville to contrast the corruption ofChicago law. In CABARET, they told acabaret performer's tale by structuring theshow like a cabaret in Nazi Germany. InTHE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, they chose the popular minstrel shows of the 1930s tohighlight the culture which fed the injustice.

Hits on Stage and ScreenSome of Kander and Ebb's most well-known musicals are KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, CABARET, andCHICAGO. The latter two were adaptedfor the big screen, and Kander and Ebbalso made a third movie musical, NEWYORK, NEW YORK.

"Kander and Ebb combine razzmatazz with a political conscience, and make brazen spirits seem a

kind of moral courage." - David Richards in The Washington Post

A Broadway Leagacy: KANDER & EBBWhen lyricist Fred Ebb died in 2004, he and John Kander had just finished the first draft of THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS.One of Broadway's longest musical partnerships, composer John Kander said they never had a single argument.

"I think the reason for that effortlessnessis confidence. I feel confidentwhen I've written something thatyou will properly set it musically and that I will like the song when

you're finished." - lyricist Fred Ebb

A Match Made in MusicEleven of their twenty musicals made it to Broadway over the forty years of teaming together,and neither Kander nor Ebb partnered with anyoneelse though each had offers. Though they remained loyal to one another in music, Kanderand Ebb were not close as friends. When askedabout this Kander remarked, "Yes, Fred and I werevery different people and, yet, somehow - I've saidthis before - when we got in that Little Room andstarted to work together we became a third person that I guess youcould call Kander & Ebb. But, it was always a total collaboration."

Behind the songs and razzle-dazzle storytelling of THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS are nine real boys - some friends, somestrangers - whose entire lives were shaped by one false accusation on a southern train.

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"The reason I took such an interest in learning was this: I never believed I wasgoing to die. A condemned man who knows his time is up, hewill not take up learning something new. I have hope." - Haywood Patterson

TTHHEE FFOOUURR FFRRIIEENNDDSS

The REAL Scottsboro Boys

HHAAYYWWOOOODD PPAATTTTEERRSSOONN, 18The son of a sharecropper, when he was fourteen he started riding the rails to look forwork to help support his family. It was hishand that was stepped on by a white boywhich caused the fight that got the trainstopped. Because of his strong-will, he wasthe most targeted of theScottsboro boys, and hewas tried and convicted

four times. He learned to read and write in prison. In jail, he sufferedwhippings, solitary confinement, and even venomous snakes. In1941, a guard paid another inmate to kill Haywood. Despite beingstabbed 20 times, he survived. Escaping from prison in 1947 for thesecond time, he lived with his sister in Detroit until he published hismemoir Scottsboro Boy, in 1950, which led to his arrest by the FBI.

EEUUGGEENNEE WWIILLLLIIAAMMSS, 13Before riding the rails, Eugene was a dishwasher.At trial he said he was involved in the fight, butnever saw the women before. After he was convicted of rape, the Alabama Supreme Courtoverturned that conviction because hewas so young. He remained caught inthe web of trails and jail until he wasfreed by a deal lawyer Samuel

Leibowitz struck freeing him and three of theother boys in 1937. Once he was free, he triedto make a career in vaudeville and hoped to geta job in a jazz orchestra someday.

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"If I have to spend more than one or two years longer,I just as well spend the rest of my life. If I was an old man

perhaps I wouldn't mind it so much but that's what's against me;I'm young and innocent of the crime."

- Roy Wright

The REAL Scottsboro Boys

RROOYY WWRRIIGGHHTT, 13Andy's brother, Roy worked at a grocery store before he became theyoungest of the Scottsboro boys on his first trip away from home. Because of his youth, he was tried separately. He was also beaten bythe police and, at the first trial, was forced to testify that he saw the other

boys rape the two women. The trial ended with a hung jury - with some jurors calling for thedeath penalty when the prosecution had only asked for a life sentence - and Roy was jailed until1937, when he was one of the four freed by Leibowitz. Then, he toured the country to campaignfor the freedom of the other Scottsboro boys. After that, he went into thearmy and then the Merchant Marines.

Roy and Andy’s mother, Ada Wright, undertook a tour of Europe to appeal for her sons’ lives and raise funds for their legal fees. In this photo, Mother Wright (center), asshe was known, is greeted by unemployed workers in Glasgow, Scotland, July 4, 1932. Although she was welcomed in several cities in Scotland and Britain, Ireland’sPrime Minister banned her from speaking in Dublin.

AANNDDYY WWRRIIGGHHTT, 19The older brother of Roy,Andy quit school when hisfather died and drove atruck to help support thefamily. When four of theboys were released in1937, he wrote a letter tothe Scottsboro Defense Committee asking if hisfreedom had been traded for the four who werereleased. He was beaten to the point of hospitalization several times while in jail. He wasparoled in 1944, but when he left Alabama in1946 it was a violation of his parole and he wasput back in jail until 1950. Because of this, hewas the last of the Scottsboro boys to be freedfrom Alabama prisons.

"It seems as though I've be

en in

here for a century."

- Andy Wright, wh

ile in prison

CCHHAARRLLEESS WWEEEEMMSS, 19A drug store delivery boy with a deceased mother and six dead siblings, when his father went ill Charlie was sent to live with his auntin Georgia. He was riding his way home to Tennessee when the train wasstopped. He was the oldest of the Scottsboroboys. Despite being tear-gassed for readingCommunist literature, contracting tuberculosis,and being stabbed by a prison guard, he had aclean record while he was in jail and he wasparoled in 1943. He moved to Atlanta, got married, and worked in a laundry.

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CCLLAARREENNCCEE NNOORRRRIISS, 19First began working in the cotton fields, when his fatherdied he worked long shifts at the Goodyear plant. Whenthe job ended, he rode the rails to find work. Because ofthe accusation he was sentenced to death three timesand spent fifteen years in prison, where he could hear thesounds of others being executed from his cell. His second conviction was overturned by the Supreme Courtin Norris v. Alabama because black citizens had been excluded from the jury. Though it violated his parole, hemoved to New York City where he lived for thirty years asa fugitive until the NAACP helped him obtain a pardonfrom Alabama Governor George Wallace. The last of thesurviving Scottsboro boys, he died in 1989.

The REAL Scottboro Boys

"The lesson to bla

ck people,

to my children, to every

body, is that you

should always figh

t for your rights,

even if it costs you

r life."

- Clarence Norris,

after being pardon

ed by

Governor George W

allace in 1976

"Please tell all the young mens to try hard and not to go to prison."- Charles Weems, upon his release

TTHHEE FFIIVVEE SSTTRRAANNGGEERRSS

Charlie Weems & Clarence Norris in Birmingham Jail, 1935 (Birmingham News)

WWIILLLLIIEE RROOBBEERRSSOONN, 15Raised by his grandmother, it was her death in 1930 thatdrove Willie to leave his job as a busboy to look forwork elsewhere. He was riding in the caboose whenthe train was stopped. He was also looking for freemedical care - he suffered from syphilis and asthmaand couldn't walk without a cane. Because of thesemedical conditions, jail was especially hard on him and hereceived no medical care there, either. He was also diagnosed with "prison neurosis."His difficulty speaking hurt his credibility in court, but he was finally one of the four released thanks to Leibowitz in 1937. Moving up North, his health continued to

plague him and he died of an asthma attack.

"All last night I walked my cell and cried,

Cause this old jailhouse done g

et so lonesome I can't be satisfied."

- Olen Montgomery in his song

Lonesome Jailhouse Blues

OOLLEENN MMOONNTTGGOOMMEERRYY, 17Born in Monroe, Georgia, Olen was riding alone in the back of the train when itwas stopped. Suffering from terrible vision, his glasses were broken on theday of his arrest. He was not given another pair for two years. He wrote letters to his supporters asking for a six string guitar because he hoped to be a‘King of the Blues’. He was the fourth boy who was released in 1937 as partof the Leibowitz deal. Afterwards, he traveled the country with Roy Wrightspeaking in defense of the other Scottsboro boys who were still in jail, andbought a saxophone and guitar.

OOZZIIEE PPOOWWEELLLL, 15With no formal education, Ozie left homeat the age of fourteen and worked in lumberand saw mills for a year. He got on the train alonethe day of the incident and said he saw the fight but wasn't involved. Although it was his court case, Powell v. Alabama, where the Supreme Court ruled that the first 1931 trial was a violation of the boys' right to adequate legal representation, Ozie spent five years in jail without a retrial. By the time he testified at Haywood’s fourth trial in 1936, Powell had suffered years of abuse from the guards.So on his way back to jail, he attacked the deputy sherrif and was shot in the head. Hesurvived, but with permanent brain damage, and was jailed for the assault until he was paroled in 1946.

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The REAL Scottsboro Boys"I done give up…'cause everybody in

Alabama is down on me and is mad at me."- Ozie Powell, to his mother after hewas shot

"If I don't get free,

I just rather they give

me the electric chair

and be dead out of

my misery."

- Willie Roberson

SAMUEL LEIBOWITZA New York criminal defense lawyer, Leibowitz hadwon seventy-seven cases and had no convictionswhen he was approached by the International LaborDefense, the legal branch of the American Communistmovement, to represent the boys. While he wasn't asupporter of communism, he represented the boys pro bono (without getting paid). During the trails he endured racial slurs and even received death threats.He was determined to clear the Scottsboro boys, andonce said to a crowd of supporters, “I promise you citizens of Harlem that I will fight with every drop ofblood in my body and with the help of God that thoseScottsboro boys shall be free.” When he reluctantlystruck a deal that freed only four of them in 1937, hesaid, "I say yes, but with a heavy heart and I feel verybadly about it." After completing his services, he returned to New York and later became a judge.

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The OTHER FACES of the TRIAL

VICTORIA PRICEVictoria worked at a cotton millfor $1.20 a day and was married three times. A neighbor described her as thetype to, "be out at all hours ofthe night and curse and swear,and be a general nuisance tothe negro population." Because of the depression, themill only had work a few days amonth. So, Victoria boarded

the same train as the Scottsboro Boys to look for work. Whenthe train was stopped and the police were about to charge herwith vagrancy, to save her own skin she accused the nine boysof rape. When she was given a chance to change her story in1936 without being charged with perjury, she refused. She married twice more and lived under an assumed name in Tennessee until she died in 1982. She never apologized.

RUBY BATESWhen Ruby’s father was jailed forwhipping her brother, her familymoved to Huntsville and lived inan unpainted shack in the poorestsection of the town. At age fifteen, she got a job working atthe same cotton mill as Victoria.She too had a reputation, andwas described on record by herneighbors as a "notorious prostitute." In the first trial, shewas unable to identify any of her attackers and her story often didn't match up with Victoria's. At Haywood's trial in 1933, she was a surprisewitness for the defense, admitting she had lied. After that,she actively campaigned around the country in support offreeing the Scottsboro boys. She is quoted as saying thatshe was, "sorry for all the trouble that I caused them."

In THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, two of the boys also play the two women who falsely accused them, VictoriaPrice and Ruby Bates. The boys' New York lawyer, Samuel Leibowitz, also has a featured role.

Leibowitz About the Ladies“Even the dumbest cop on the [New York City] force would have spotted those two as tramps and liars. Youknow damn well they lied that day at the Paint Rock station and the Price girl has been lying ever since.”

– Samuel Leibowitz to prosecutor Thomas Knight, December 1936

The Perception of Black Men"They said that all Negroes were brutes andhad to be held down by stern repressivemeasures or the number of rapes on whitewoman would be larger than it is. Their pointseemed to be that it was only by ruthless oppression of the Negro that any white woman was able to escape raping at Negrohands. Starting with this notion, it followedthat they could not conceive that two whitegirls found riding with a crowd of Negroescould possibly have escaped raping." - Hollace Ransdall, an observer of the Scottsborotrial sent by the American Civil Liberties Union

The plight of the Scottsboro boys was about more than two white women’s accusations. It was the resultof decades of prejudice, segregation and hardship in America.

NoTrial,JusttheRope4,743 lynchings occurred in America between 1882-1968. 3,446 of thoselynched were African American. Out ofthose lynchings 299 happened in the stateof Alabama. When the Scottsboro boyswere arrested, a mob of people rose upwanting the boys to be lynched instead ofreceiving a trial.

Separate But EqualNamed after the minstrel character, the“Jim Crow” laws were city and statelaws which forced segregation. Thosewho broke the laws could legally befined, jailed, or otherwise punished.

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Bad Land, Bad Books“Lots of people moved off the land because ofcrop failures. The land was just worn out andthe South was suffering from terrible droughts.People got deep into debt - debts that werekept on the books, even when they had actually been paid off. It was hard to challenge the records kept by the landowners.

Through the twenties and thirties, many black people hoboedaway from the South because they realized that on the farmsthe more you worked the more you owed.”

- Mrs. Peacolia Barge, an Alabama resident

“It shall be unlawful to conduct a

restaurant or other place for the serving of food in the city, at which whiteand colored people are served in the same room, unless such white and colored personsare effectually separated by a solid partition extending from the floor upward to a distanceof seven feet or higher, and unless a separate

entrance from the streetis provided for eachcompartment.”

– Jim Crow law in theState of

AlabamaLimited OpportunitiesMost African Americanwomen were only hired as

domestics – such as maids, cooks or laundresses.Some were teachers or nurses, though segregation limited them to teaching or nursingblack citizens only. Men mostly did hard labor –mining, factory work, bricklaying, or delivery. Noblack person was allowed to be a store clerk, fireman, policeman or salesman. Some AfricanAmerican men became dentists, doctors, or

principals, but again they were only allowed to serve their own community.

The CULTURE of the Times: BEFORE Scottsboro

The Endmen - Mr. Bones and Mr. TamboCalled the endmen because they sat at the endof the semicircle, Mr. Bones and Mr. Tambo wereso named because in the original mistral showsthey played the bones (similar to playing twospoons) and the tambourine in the orchestra. Asthey evolved into a clownish comedy duo, theyused theirinstruments as a musical button for theirjokes. Wearing gaudy patterned clothing, theywere dancers, jokesters and singers.

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Minstrel Shows

Setting the Minstrel StageWhen a minstrel show came to town, they arrived with a parade much like circuses of thetime. Marching their way to the venue, they gave a concert to drum up an audience withteasers. The show itself was split into two parts. For the first half, there was a semi-circleof chairs on stage. Actors in blackface entered wearing mismatched clownish clothing,and the Interlocutor began the show, narrating between the scenes and action. Inthe second half, the Interlocutor introduceddifferent variety acts with a format and stylethat later grew into vaudeville.

SCRIPT FROM A REAL MINSTREL SHOWINTERLOCUTOR:What are you thinking about, Mr.Bones? What is there on your mind this evening?BONES: I was jis' thinking 'bout dat business I was insome time ago. I started in de -- what you call dat businessdat hab free balls hanging out? (sic)INTERLOCUTOR: Oh, you mean the pawnbroker.BONES: Yes, I was a pawnbroker wen I went in de bis, butI was a dead broker wen I came out. (sic)- from Minstrel

Gags an End Men'sHand-Book, a 19thCentury book

FROM THE SCOTTSBOROBOYS SCRIPTMR. BONES: Mr. Tambo, are youready to have a good time?MR TAMBO: Indeed! Let’s haveall the men lean over and kissthe ladies in the front.MR. BONES: And all the men inthe front kiss the ladies behind!

An old form of entertainment unique to America, minstrel shows exploited and dehumanized black Americans by using exaggerated stereotyping and by glorifing plantation life. The shows originated in

the 1830s and were popular for the next hundred years in the North and South.

The InterlocutorBy definition, an interlocutor issomeone who engages in conversation. In minstrel shows, the interlocutor was the straight man of the comedy, orchestratingthe setups for the endmen's punchlines. He also introduced theacts and narrated for the audience, making him the ringleader of theshow. As such, he was oftendressed in a suit from the currenttime, and was usually a tall,large man with a confident, booming voice. As in THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, the Interlocutor was usually a white man.

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Minstrel Shows

Toe-TappersThough mistral shows went rightfully out of fashion, some of their songs did not. CamptownRaces, Oh! Susanna and My Old Kentucky Home are all songs which originated in minstrelshows. Oh! Susanna inspired both a play and a movie. The hoedown is also from minstraltimes - the performers formed a semicircle and took turns singing and dancing in the middle.

Performing in BlackfaceWhen minstrel shows first started, white performers wore blackface in order to play their caricaturesof black characters. Blackface was made by burning a cork, grinding it up into powder, and thenadding water to make it a paste. The performers applied cocoa butterfirst to protect their face, then the black make-up. Finally, they drew exaggerated lips using bright red lipstick. As minstrel shows grew inpopularity, minstrel companies hired former slaves to perform for

"authenticity." These black performers were also forced to wear blackface.

The CakewalkAnother part of minstrel shows seen in THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS was thecakewalk. This evolved from a real 'competition' on plantations, where slaveowners made their slaves dress up in their fancy clothes and parade around fortheir entertainment. It's called the cakewalk because the slave pronounced thewinner was often given a bit of cake as a prize.

Jumpin' Jim CrowAn actor, Thomas Rice, claimed to hear a black person singing the lyrics, "My nameis Jim Crow. Weel about and turn about and do jis so, Eb'ry time I weel about Ijump Jim Crow." One of the first actors in blackface, Rice created a song and danceroutine for a character he named Jim Crow in 1828. The character caught on andbecame a stock character in minstrel shows, andwithin a decade the term "Jim Crow" became a racialslur against African Americans.

Other Stock CharactersSome other stereotypes that were created or made popular by minstrel showswere Sambo, Zip Coon, Mammy, Uncle Tom, Buck, and Pickaninny.

Unfortunately these stereotypes did not die out with the minstrel tradition, and could be seen in advertising, cartoons and movies.Think of where the icon of Aunt Jemima came from, for example, before maple syrup.

National Guardsmen lead defendents into the Morgan County courthouse.

Supreme Court Ruling #1“In light of the facts outlined in the forepart of this opinion – the ignorance and illiteracy of the defendants, their youth, the circumstances of public hostility, the imprisonment and close surveillance of the defendants by the military forces, the fact thattheir friends and families were all in other states and communication with them necessarily difficult, and above all that theystood in deadly peril of their lives – we think the failure of the trial court to give them reasonable time and opportunity to secure counsel was a clear denial of due process.” – from the Supreme Court ruling in Powell v. Alabama, November 7, 1932

Legal Mis-RepresentationThe boys first trial was only days after their arrest,and they were given lawyers Stephen Roddy andMilo Moody to represent them. Roddy was a real estate attorney that one observer remarkedwas, "so stewed he could hardly walk straight."Moody was seventy-years old and hadn't been totrial in decades. After the boys were found guilty,the Supreme Court intervened and said it was a mistrial because they weren't granted proper dueprocess of the law.

Supreme Court Ruling #2"The clerk of the jury commission and the clerk ofthe circuit court had never known of a negro servingon a grand jury in Jackson County. The court reporter, who had not missed a session in thatcounty for twenty-four years, and two jury commissioners testified to the same effect. One of the latter, who was a member of the commission which made up the jury roll for the grand jury which found the indictment, testified that hehad, 'never known of a single instance where any negro sat on any grand or petit jury in the entire history of thatcounty.'…That testimony in itself made out a prima facie case of the denial of the equal protection which the Constitution guarantees.” - from the Supreme Court ruling in Norris v. Alabama, 1935

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One accusation in 1931 lead to years of trials, convictions, jail time, media attention, protesters, supporters and two Supreme Court rulings. The boys' plight shaped history and helped to spark the

Civil Rights movement, but at what cost?

The Trails . . . the Verdicts . . .

A Jury Without Their PeersIn 1931, justice for African Americans in the South was difficult for many of reasons, including that African Americans were excluded from serving on juries. For thetrials of the Scottboro boys it was no different, as verdictswere decided by all white jurors. In 1935, the SupremeCourt intervened again, ruling that once again the boyswere not given the equal protection they deserved.

"Don't go out and quibbl

e over

evidence…Get it done

and protect the fair wom

anhood of

this great state." - M

elvin Hutson, for the pro

secution in

his closing summation in

1936

The 12 white jurymen who found Haywood Patterson guilty in his first trial.

"Seventy yearsago the scalawags and carpet-baggers marched into the South andsaid: 'The Negro is your equal and you willaccept him as such'. Today, the reds of NewYork march into the South with a law bookand again say, 'The Negro is your equal andyou will accept him as such.' We will not!" - The Jackson County Sentinel, 1933

"I am innocent, as innocent as the tiny mite of life just beginning to stir beneath my heart. Honest Mr.Engdahl, I haven't did anything to be imprisoned likethis. And all the boys send their best regards to youall and best wishes. So I would appreciate an interview at your earliest convenience."

- written by Haywood Patterson

"What are we guilty of? Nothing but being out of a job. Nothingbut looking for work. Our kinfolk was starving for food. We wantedto help them out. So we hopped a freight - just like any of youworkers might a done…We was taken by a mob and framed up onrape charges. Help us boys. We ain't done nothing wrong. Weare only workers like you are. Only our skin is black."

- written by Roy Wright

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"Behind the headlines, the spectacle, the ongoing trials, the histrionics of politicians and lawyers wasthe story of nine young African American boys, determined to prove that they mattered."

- John Kander, composer of THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS

. . . the Letters . . . the Headlines

Read All About ItAs the story hit the news, papers in theNorth and South featured very differ-ent headlines. The one on the left ranin the New York Times on March26, 1931. A southern newspaper,The Jackson County Sentinel, ran

a very different headline of the sameincident, "ALL NEGROES POSITIVELY IDENTI-

FIED BY GIRLS AND ONE WHITE BOY WHO WAS HELDPRISONER WITH PISTOL AND KNIVES WHILE NINE BLACKFIENDS COMMITTED REVOLTING CRIME."

Anti-Semitism at the Trial"Show them that Alabama justice cannot be bought and sold withJew money from New York." This statement, taken directly fromcourt doucments, was made by Morgan County prosecutor WadeWright in his closing remarks in 1933, and became the inspiration forthe song Jew Money in THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS.

Cries for HelpIn addition to writing letters to their families, the boys also wrote letters to their supporters. Thequotes below are taken directly from letters two of the boys wrote to reach out to the public.

“"Now, as for the “Jew money” from New York, letme say this: That when the hour of our country's need camethere was no question of Jew or gentile, black or white - all, all together braved the smoke and flame of Flanders Fields."

- Samuel Leibowitz, referencing WWI in his closing remarks in 1933

Her Own Civil ServiceIn 1943, Alabama segregation law stated that thefirst four rows of buses were for whitesonly, and that the last ten rows were for blacks.Some drivers also forced African Americans tore-board the bus at the back after paying for theirticket in front. One day, Parks refused to do thisalthough the driver threatened to call the police.She was arrested, and her arrest sparked a

boycott of buses and a challenge of the segregation law. The law wasoverturned by the Supreme Court in 1956 for being unconstitutional, making Parks stand a history-changing moment for civil rights.

The Lady Behind the LadyTHE SCOTTSBORO BOYS musical doesn't begin with any of theboys. It begins with a lady who is remembering what happened to theboys back in the 1930s. As the tale of the boys unfolds onstage, she'spresent as a silent witness andcaretaker to the boys at their timesof need. This lady is Rosa Parks,and her presence is a symbolic nod to how the plight of the boysinspired her and scores of otherAfrican American women like her to stand up and march for justice.

A LADY sits at a bench, waitingfor a bus. She is about 40 and holdsa cake box wrapped with a string…while she waites, shelifts a corner of the cake box. She smells the cake. Thecake brings back memories. She shuts her eyes. Theworld of the street, the noise of the traffic, the wait for thebus, the disappointments of the day - all fade away. Thememory continues as a distant MINSTREL MARCH isheard. - the opening stage directions

from THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS

From Marchesto MarriageWhile Rosa wasat a march to freethe Scottsboroboys hosted bythe NAACP in1931, she metRaymond Parks,

a barber who was a fundraiser for the National Committeeto Save the Scottsboro Boys. They later married, and thecouple continued to show their support for the boys as thesaga went on.

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Before she went down in history as the African American woman who refused to sit at the back ofthe bus, Rosa Parks was Rosa McCauley, a young woman who marched for the Scottsboro Boys.

THE RIPPLE EFFECT: ROSA PARKS

"It was awful theywere condemned to die for a crimethey did not commit."- Rosa Parks regarding the Scottsboro boys

"People always say that I didn't give upmy seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was

not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at theend of a working day. I was not old, although some

people have an image of me as being old then. I was 42. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in."- Rosa Parks, as written in her autobiography

"Peopleare on death row sometimes as long

as 15 or 20 years, so there arestill quite a few people who were

convicted at times when DNA testing wasn't prevalent.”-Richard Dieter, President of the Death Penalty

Information Center

Thank You, DNABy 2005, 14 inmates who were on deathrow were released and their name cleared– all thanks to DNA. Congress helped toencourage post-trial DNA testing by passing a law in 2004 that not only made itlegal, but provided funding for states to doso. Even in cases where an inmate ran out

of appeals, over half of the states in the U.S. will allow post-trialDNA testing to prove innocence. Since then, organizations like thePennsylvania Innocence Project have come forward to make surethat anyone wrongfully jailed has a chance to be free.

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Why THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS? In some ways, things have changed since the boys’ struggle. In other ways, this piece of history can help us see what hasn’t changed, so we can make that change now.

Trial By NewsWhen the Scottsboro boys were arrested, newspapers explodedwith headlines that could sway public opinion. Today, when an individual is arrested the story is not only reported as straightnews, but there are shows on television and blogs and websiteson the internet which center around opinion, speculation and debate. Because a court cannot control the content of what TV,the internet and the papers choose to show the public – includingwhether or not that content is accurate or impartial - when jurorsare selected they are asked not to use those sources, and must

sometimes sign an oaththat they will not look up anything to do with the defendant or the case on the web.

Stereotypes on the Big ScreenWhile the practice of blackface isshunned and minstrel shows are gone,stereotyping still exists in Hollywood.Many of the roles offered to black actors feature characters that let theirtempers and violent tendencies get thebest of them, who are criminals, or who are buffoon-like sidekicks to a lead actor of another race (think of the movieswith Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, for example). In one Hollywood stereotype, dubbed The Magic Negro, a simple andhumble black character lends their literal magic or homespunwisdom to help a character of another race succeed while theythemselves don’t seem to have any life or goals of their own.

Current CONNECTIONS

Still Black and WhiteIn 2009, calculationsfrom census statisticsshowed that while the number of arrests forwhite citizens wascomparable with thenumber of arrests for black citizens, the number ofwhites versus blacks who were jailed painted a differentpicture. Though white citizens made up 66% of thepopulation in America in 2009, they only made up 34%of the prison population. Black citizens made up only13% of the population in 2009, but accounted for 40%of the prison population – a higher percentage than anyother race.

To learn more about our programming in schools and at the theater...Check us out on the web: PhiladelphiaTheatreCompany.orge-mail us: education@philadelphiatheatrecompany.orgcall our Education Department: 215-985-1400 x 111

Philadelphia Theatre Company gratefully acknowledges the followingfor their underwriting support of Drama Contact:

2011-12 Drama Contact Corporate Sponsors:

The Albert M. Greenfield FoundationThe ARAMARK Charitable Fund at the Vanguard Charitable Endowment ProgramBank of America Charitable Foundation, Inc.Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public GivingChristian R. & Mary F. Lindback FoundationConnelly FoundationFund for Children of the Philadelphia FoundationThe Hamilton Family Foundation

Lincoln Financial FoundationLouis N. Cassett FoundationRosenlund Family FoundationTargetTD Bank, through the TD Charitable Foundation

Verizon, Inc.The Victory FoundationVirginia & Harvey Kimmel Arts-Education FundWells Fargo FoundationZeldin Family Foundation

An Actors’ Union Term1. The two most grueling days of rehearsal. The actors rehearse

for 10 hours each day with 2 hours of breaktime. 10 hrs + 2 hrs = 10 out of 12!

2. The two most rewarding days of rehearsal. Without these two technical rehearsals, the show wouldn’t go on!

3. This booklet. “10 out of 12” is your rehearsal to play the part of an audience member

“10 out of 12” is a publication of Philadelphia Theatre Company’s Education Department. Each issue explores themes, ideas and questions related to a PTC production. It is designed to enrichthe experience of our audiences and support the mission of our Drama Contact education programming.

Produced by mindy a. early, Rashanda Freeman and Maureen SweeneyNo part of this study guide may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, including mechanical, electronic,

photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the authors and Philadelphia Theatre Company. c2011

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