In 1931, nine black youths were charged with raping two white women in Scottsboro, Alabama. Despite meager and contradictory evidence, all nine were found guilty and eight were sentenced to death. This book explores how this case has embedded itself into the fabric of American memory and become a lens for perceptions of race and class.

"Readers will find riveting new perspectives on one of the most important cases in our national history. I have read many books on Scottsboro, but until I read this one, I had no idea of the many and varied representations of this case."--Mary Helen Washington, University of Maryland

"With vigor, thoroughness, and creativity, Miller traces the treatment of Scottsboro in a variety of media--journalism, poetry, fiction, drama, and film. He demonstrates how each medium and moment constructed its own 'Scottsboro' and developed its own lexicon for a case that commanded the public's attention for roughly half a century."--Deborah E. McDowell, author of Leaving Pipe Shop: Memories of Kin

"In the remarkable proliferation of books coming out of the 'memory mill' in American studies and history for the past two decades, this is one of the best because it is not only about memory and 'mis-remembering'. . . it is about indirect parallels as well as patterns of influence, explicit and implicit."---Michael Kammen, European Legacy