Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center facts for kids
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Established | 2010 |
|---|---|
| Location | Scottsboro, Alabama |
| Type | Public |
The Scottsboro Boys Museum is a special place in Scottsboro, Alabama, in the United States. It tells the important story of the Scottsboro Boys. These were nine young African American teenagers. In 1931, they were traveling on a freight train without a ticket. They were then wrongly accused of a serious crime. This museum helps us remember what happened to them. It also shows how their case helped start the modern Civil Rights Movement.
Contents
How the Museum Started
The museum was created by Sheila Washington. When she was 17, she found a book about the Scottsboro Boys. Her stepfather told her not to read it. He felt the story was too difficult for a young person. But Sheila later read the book on her own. The story stayed with her.
Sheila decided she wanted to honor the Scottsboro Boys. She thought, "One day, when I get older, I'm going to find a place and honor the Scottsboro Boys." In 2000, she first shared her idea for a museum. This was during a public talk about making a history trail in the area.
Many people in Scottsboro did not want to talk about the past. They felt the incident was over. Even a former mayor told her not to try. But Sheila kept going. She started a group called the Scottsboro-Jackson County Multicultural Heritage Foundation. This group helped get people and money to support the museum. The museum officially opened on February 1, 2010.
About the Museum Building
The Scottsboro Boys Museum is in an old church. It used to be the Joyce Chapel United Methodist Church. This church was for African American people. It is the oldest African American church still standing in the county. The church closed in 2009. Then, it let the museum use its building. The building is close to the railroad tracks. These are the same tracks where the Scottsboro Boys were traveling.
Soon after the museum opened, the church building was put up for sale. The museum quickly raised $75,000 to buy the building. Half of the money came from the Jackson County Commission. This is the local government group. The other half came from a foundation. This foundation had connections to the family of Samuel Leibowitz. He was the lawyer who defended the Scottsboro Boys.
The museum gets money from the Scottsboro-Jackson County Multicultural Heritage Foundation. This group works to raise funds for the museum. Other big supporters include the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, the Ford Foundation, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
What You Can See at the Museum
Sheila Washington gathered many of the first items for the museum. Later, the Black Heritage Council of the Alabama Historical Commission helped too. A local historian named Garry Morgan also helped a lot. He found items and bought others for the museum. Morgan also set up the first exhibits.
The museum shows the Scottsboro Boys case. It also explains how the trial helped start the modern American Civil Rights Movement. You can see many real objects there. These include a metal table from the Scottsboro Boys' jail cell. There is also a chair used by a jury member during the trial. You can see stamps sold to raise money for their legal defense. There are also photos from the trial and old newspaper articles.
The museum has many scrapbooks made by local people. Most of these had never been looked at by historians before. When the museum first opened, its main exhibit was a timeline. It showed all the events of the case. This timeline went up to 1989. That was when the last Scottsboro Boy passed away.
Sheila Washington was the museum's director and tour guide. She passed away on January 29, 2021.
The museum is open a few hours twice a week. In its first year, about 1,200 people visited. Most visitors came from northern states. About two-thirds of them were white. The museum is one of eight places in Alabama on the United States National Civil Rights Trail.
Museum Improvements
Since it opened, the Scottsboro Boys Museum has added new exhibits. They now have multimedia displays. They also work with experts on the case. They partner with colleges like the University of Alabama and Auburn University.
In early 2020, the museum added a special room. It looks like the courtroom where the trials happened. All the main people from the trial are shown there. This project cost $40,000.
The museum also started a $100,000 fundraising effort. This was to celebrate its 10th anniversary. The money was for the courtroom room. It was also for new technology and more automated exhibits. They also wanted to add new exhibits. These would show how the case inspired many civil rights events. Alabama State Senator Steve Livingston gave $62,500 to this project. A GoFundMe account also raised over $4,700 as of February 25, 2021[update].
