NAACP Papers
This collection documents NAACP’s efforts to combat lynching, mob violence, discrimination in the criminal justice system, and white resistance to civil rights efforts. A rich set of records in this module is the NAACP file on one of the most celebrated criminal trials of the 20th century – the case of the Scottsboro boys. During this trial, nine young Black men were accused of raping two White women, which lead 8 of them to be sentenced to death in the electric chair. All eight escaped execution when the Supreme Court declared the ruling unconstitutional as the defendants had not been rightfully represented thereby violating the Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment. This collection also details the NAACP’s efforts to win passage of a federal law against lynching.
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