American Literature

Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970s)

Women

This collection uses primary sources to explore Harper Lee&#39;s To Kill a Mockingbird.

An excerpt from the text of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inaugural address, March 4, 1933. 

Scout refers to Roosevelt’s speech when she says, “Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself.” 

An image of a Jim Crow rail car “for Negroes only,” Fayetteville, NC, 1929.

While not specifically mentioned in the novel, Jim Crow laws were in effect throughout the Southern states.

A “whites only” restroom sign, another example of racial prejudice. 

A calendar of events for the Scottsboro case, 1936. 

An excerpt from *The Crime at Scottsboro* by Guy Endore, 1938. 

A 1932 pamphlet of “Scottsboro Limited,” the poem Langston Hughes wrote about the Scottsboro boys’ trial. 

A flyer for a mass meeting to “save the Scottsboro boys” on February 10, 1936. 

The trial of the Scottsboro Boys is similar to Tom Robinson’s trial in *To Kill a Mockingbird*.

A photo of Scottsboro boys’ mothers, May 19, 1934. 

The caption in the national edition of the Afro American reads: "Four of the Alabama mothers who were greeted by Mrs. Julia West Hamilton (center) chairman of the board of directors of the Phyllis Wheatley Y.W.C.A., as they arrived at the D.C. Y where they stayed until arrangements were made to see Marvin H. McIntyre, secretary to President Roosevelt. Left to right, Ruby Bates, white, Mrs. Mayme Williams, Mrs. Viola Montgomery, Mrs. Julia W. Hamilton, Mrs. Janie Patterson and Mrs. Ida Norris. The mothers are seeking the aid of President Roosevelt in an effort to save their sons lives."

A photograph of a communist parade in Washington, DC, 1933. 

Banners include: "We march for food and freedom; to free the Scottsboro boys,” "Fight Roosevelt's new deal of hunger,” "Down with Jim-Crowism,” and "Scottsboro boys will not die!". 

An excerpt from the National Education Association review of Alabama schools during the Depression, 1933. 

A photograph of a playground in southern California, 1930.

A photograph of kids and a new car, ca. 1935; while the Finches were poor, they still had luxury items like a car.

A photograph of a sharecropper family in Macon County, GA, 1937; the Depression affected the Cunninghams and other farmers more than most.

A 1978 photograph of Truman Capote, 1978, an author and a childhood friend of Harper Lee who is said to be her inspiration for Dill.

An excerpt from a 1984 interview with Rosa Jackson in which she talks about her experience with the law as a black woman in Alabama in 1927. 

Questions

1. Compare and contrast the photographs of [kids and a new car](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/to-kill-a-mockingbird-by-harper-lee/sources/656) and the [sharecropper family in Macon County](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/to-kill-a-mockingbird-by-harper-lee/sources/657). How do these two pictures relate to the Finch children and the Cunninghams? How do they relate to the Great Depression? Use textual evidence to support your answer.

2. Listen to the [interview](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/to-kill-a-mockingbird-by-harper-lee/sources/659) with Rosa Jackson. Explain how Atticus Finch would have reacted to Rosa’s arrest. How is Atticus similar to Judge Abernathy? How is Tom Robinson similar to Rosa Jackson? Use textual evidence to support your answer.

3. Look at the [photograph of the children on the playground](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/to-kill-a-mockingbird-by-harper-lee/sources/655). Find a quotation from the book that could caption this picture. How does this image show Scout’s feelings about Jem’s school experience? What emotion does the picture evoke?

4. Look over the [review of Alabama schools](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/to-kill-a-mockingbird-by-harper-lee/sources/654), specifically in rural areas. Reread chapter two about Scout’s first day of school. What do we learn about rural schools in Alabama during the Great Depression from a historical document and a fictionalized account? Use textual evidence from the novel to support your answer.

5. Scout tells the reader in chapter one that “there was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with...But it was a time of vague optimism for some people: Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself." This historical allusion is from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s [first inaugural address](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/to-kill-a-mockingbird-by-harper-lee/sources/645). Read the first page of the address. How could this speech help revive a nation in the depths of a Great Depression? 

Activity

At the conclusion of the novel, have students read the [Scottsboro trial calendar](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/to-kill-a-mockingbird-by-harper-lee/sources/648). With a partner, have students create a Tom Robinson trial calendar. Next have students read [*The Crime at Scottsboro*](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/to-kill-a-mockingbird-by-harper-lee/sources/649). Emulating the tone of the excerpt, have students write a one-paragraph editorial proclaiming Tom Robinson’s innocence. Finally, show the [“Scottsboro Limited” pamphlet](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/to-kill-a-mockingbird-by-harper-lee/sources/650), the [flyer](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/to-kill-a-mockingbird-by-harper-lee/sources/651), the [photograph of mothers](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/to-kill-a-mockingbird-by-harper-lee/sources/652), and the [photograph of the Communist parade](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/to-kill-a-mockingbird-by-harper-lee/sources/653). Allow students to discuss. Students should describe the items, explain what is happening in each, explain how each makes them feel, and identify how each is connected to *To Kill a Mockingbird*.

Teaching Guide: Exploring *To Kill a Mockingbird*

Resources

1. [Famous American Trials: “The Scottsboro Boys” Trials, 1931-1937](http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/scottsboro/scottsb.htm), University of Missouri Kansas City. 
2. [History](http://www.scottsboro-boys.org/history.html), Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center. 
3. [To Kill a Mockingbird](http://resources.mhs.vic.edu.au/mockingbird/intro.htm), Melbourne High School. 

Overview

Harper Lee’s *To Kill a Mockingbird*, published in 1960, quickly became a success with both critics and the public. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, the novel has been translated into forty different languages and sold more than 40 million copies, earning its description as “one of the best novels of the twentieth century.” In *To Kill a Mockingbird*, set in the deeply prejudiced South in the midst of the Great Depression, an adult Jean Louise “Scout” Finch tells her story of growing up in Maycomb, Alabama. Scout learns about prejudice and empathy as events unfold around her. Her father, Atticus Finch, is the court-appointed lawyer for Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape. Lee takes the story straight from the headlines in the 1930s when the Scottsboro boys (nine young men) were falsely accused of raping two white women on a train. The social iniquities of a small Southern town are brought to life through the innocent eyes of a young girl. This primary source set includes photographs, documents, and objects that provide context for historical and thematic elements within *To Kill a Mockingbird*.

English

*To Kill a Mockingbird* by Harper Lee

to-kill-a-mockingbird-harper-lee_08_c8994ac95e70adf16c19fa0f0744108c.jpg

Courtesy of Archives Center - NMAH via Smithsonian Institution.

Scurlock, Addison N., “Scottsboro Mothers,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/c8994ac95e70adf16c19fa0f0744108c.

A photo of Scottsboro boys’ mothers, May 19, 1934.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 8 of 15 in the Primary Source Set To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee