TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Alabama Digital Humanities Center is launching a new online database called “‘To See Justice Done’: Letters from the Scottsboro Trials,” at noon Monday, Oct. 24, in room 109a of Gorgas Library on The University of Alabama campus.
The website, an online scholarly resource for researching social justice and African American history, includes a sampling of thousands of letters, petitions and telegrams sent to Alabama governors during the early 1930s when citizens were writing in to demand the freedom of the nine young African Americans who were falsely accused of rape and sentenced to death in Scottsboro.
“These archival materials show the breadth and depth of the demand for justice that was coming from all across the country and around the world,” said Dr. Ellen Spears, an associate professor in New College and the department of American studies. “They provide an extraordinary primary resource for students and scholars of African American history and social justice.”
As a part of the launch, Spears and 2014 alumna Margaret Sasser will discuss researching and curating the project and demonstrate the features of the database. The event is free and open to the public.
The online exhibit was curated by UA faculty and students in collaboration with the Alabama Digital Humanities Center, the Alabama Department of Archives and History and the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center. The project also received support from the Center for Community-Based Partnerships, the Summersell Center for the Study of the South, The Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility, New College, and the departments of American studies and history.
Contact
Courtney Corbridge, courtney.a.corbridge@ua.edu, 205/348-8539
Source
Dr. Ellen Spears, associate professor in New College and the department of American studies, egspears@ua.edu