Transcript www.saintclareofassisi.org

Setting
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Maycomb County, Alabama

Based on Lee’s hometown of
Monroeville
 Set in the years of the Great
Depression
 Approximately 1933-1935
 The desert state
next door sends
some of its heat on
over to AL
LEE’S CHILDHOOD
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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
SCOUT’S CHILDHOOD

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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
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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
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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

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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.
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“When you have a hit like that, you can’t go anywhere
but down.” Lee’s cousin