Setting

LEE’S CHILDHOOD SCOUT’S CHILDHOOD Grew up in Monroville Father- Amasa was attorney

in the state legislature Older brother and younger

friend (Truman Capote) are playmates

Avid reader 6 years old when the

Scottsboro trials were covered in local and state papers

Grew up in Maycomb County Father- Atticus was attorney

in the state legislature Older brother (Jem) and

younger friend (Dill) are playmates

Can read before she enters school

6 years old when the Tom Robinson trial begins

Race Relations Nine black teenagers are falsely charged with raping two white women in Scottsboro, Alabama; eight are convicted and sentenced to death The U.S. Supreme Court reverses their convictions because their constitutional rights had been violated The teens are tried for a second time, and are again found guilty The Supreme Court reverses the convictions again Eventually, four of the defendants are freed; the other five serve prison terms The last Scottsboro defendant was paroled in 1950 after serving 17 years in prison

The Great Depression sweeps the nation – Many families do not even have money for basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter.

The per capita income for families in Alabama (and Oklahoma) is $125 - $250 a year

Many southern blacks pick cotton for a living

Herbert Hoover President from 1929-1933 Franklin Roosevelt President from 33-45

No white female nurses in hospitals that treat black men

Separate passenger cars for whites and blacks

Separate waiting rooms for whites and blacks

Separation of white and black convicts Separate schools No interracial marriages (until 1967) Segregated water fountains Segregated theatres

Georgia 1938 The back of a building

THEN 2007 RECEIVING THE US PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM

She is 87 years young. Born in 1926. She rarely makes public appearances. She is one of America’s most well known

authors despite the fact that TKAM is the ONLY book she has ever written.

“When you have a hit like that, you can’t go anywhere but down.” Lee’s cousin