The Omaha guide., 1935-07-13
Il Less Mouth to Feed
By Elizabeth Lawson

DN Lawson
My boy would have been in school
today, but not having clothes even to
go in, he went off to hunt work, and
he was sentenced to die in the cleo
trio chair"
And this letter from Mrs. Mamie
Williams Of Chattanooga sum up the
entire story Of Eugene Williams,
youngest Of all the Scottsboro boys.
The sentence against Eugene was
the first to be reversed He was only
Is at the time Of the Scottsboro trial,
and the law of Alabama Provides
that persons under 16 must be tried
in Juvenile Court But that law went
unnoticed in the frenzy Of Alabama's
greatest lynch-holiday. Only after
the international Labor Defense had
fought, inside the courtroom and out,
against this illegal conviction, did the
Alabama Supreme Court, in 1882, re-
verse the sentence of death and re-
mand Eugene Williams for a Juvenile
Court hearing.
POverty-S Stricken Family
Among Chattanooga poverty
stricken Negro families, the Williams
family was of the poorest The faith
er got only two days work a week.
The house was gradually stripped,
even Of its furniture.
MY furniture man has got all my
furniture except two beds and a
table I made myself" Mrs. Williams
wrote in one Of her first letters to
the l. L. d.
Il amt got a chair in my house
and amt got no stove and amt had
one since December. I did all right
cooking on the CRATE while it was
cold, but now it is SO hot. for my
CRATE is in the DON | sleep in and me
and the kids nearly die after cook
ing in the evening. Some days /
cook out in the yard on bricks to
keep from making a fire in the house.
got one dime and my baby needs
some teething medicine, but I got to
spend it for food. / went to the re-
lief for some clothes for my kids,
amt got the first piece yet
Eugene worried a great deal about
the state Of the family, and about
the younger children. IF / leave
here" he said to his mother, ct will
mean one less mouth to feed" With
Arly and Roy Wright, and Haywood
Patterson, three Of his closest friends,
he hoped a freight out Of Chatta-
nooga. His mother saw him next in
Kilby Prison, after he had been SEN
fenced to die at Scottsboro.
Grew Up in Jail.
Eugene has grown up in jail. One
day when his mother visited him. he
stood up to his full height behind
the bars, and she wept. "Why do you
want to grow up now, Eugene, in
this place?' she said.
To William L. Patterson. National
Secretary Of the international Labor
Defense, Eugene wrote:
"Dear Sir, Mr.. Patterson:
"Just a few lines to let you hear
from me. I am well and getting
along all right. All with the t~oncep-
ton Of beng free. But I do hope
when these few lines have been de-
livered to you it viii find you and
the whole |. J.. D. doing just fine.
Well, MI. Patterson, I know you have
heard Of the boys great success
(here Eugene refers to the 1882 de-
cision Of the Supreme Court revers-
ing the death sentences imposed at
Scottsboro-E. LID and to say | am
happy, sure a. silk, because that will
help me out a lots, and | know that
you ali are still busy in trying to get
US out. I really will be glad when
the day comes when Roy and | can 20
out in the street where / can exercise
my worried bones. / remain yours
as ever,
EUGENE WILLIAMS.
TOrmented in Jail.
The fact that Eugene is the young
est Of the Scottsboro prisoners has
had little weight with the jailers.
They have tormented him, abused
him, and have eve gone the length
Of stealing from him the parcels
which friends outside have sent.
Last year a friend in Detroit sent
him a package containing shoes and
stockings When no reply came, she
sent him stamps, thinking that lack
OF postage might have kept him
from answering. 1t was then that
she got a letter thanking her for the
parcels. To this letter the forged sig
nature Of Andy Wright was ap-
pended. The friend, who was famil-
Ipr with AnIr-5z L,-l--