Shelia Washington dedicated her life to honoring the Scottsboro Boys, a group of Black teenagers unjustly convicted of crimes in the 1930s, and then led efforts to clear the names.
Tell Their Story: Remembering the Scottsboro Boys at Burritt on the Mountain series
The Scottsboro Boys: Telling their story in a different city By Kailey Schuyler | May 13, 2021 at 8:15 PM CDT - Updated May 13 at 8:19 PM
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - A new series and exhibit tour will highlight the importance of a right to a fair trial. It’s happening at Burritt on the Mountain in Huntsville on Saturday, May 15.
The event will break down the story behind The Scottsboro Boys, nine, young African American teenagers who were falsely accused of rape in Jackson County in 1931.
The trials created uproars and eight of the boys were sentenced to death.
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Shelia Washington Dies at 61; Helped Exonerate Scottsboro Boys
She fought for decades to get their names cleared from an egregious injustice in the Jim Crow South, and created a museum in their honor.
Shelia Washington in an undated photo at the spot where the Scottsboro Boys were arrested. She recognized that their story was an important milestone in the annals of civil rights, and was determined that it be remembered. “The story dies if we don’t tell it,” she said.Credit.William H. Hampton
Published Feb. 26, 2021Updated Feb. 27, 2021
Shelia Washington was cleaning her parents’ room at their home in Scottsboro, Ala., in the 1970s when she discovered a paperback book hidden in a pillowcase underneath the bed.