DECATUR, Ala. — This time last year we re-introduced you to the Scottsboro boys. The case involved nine black boys whose case went to the Supreme Court and changed the laws of the land. It caught the attention of a viewer who already had an interest in the case.
To bring this story full circle, we'll start at a soul food diner in Decatur, a local restaurant known for its soul food.
Linda Wheeler, Minnie Lee's Soul Food Restaurant Owner & Manager, starts the story, "My mother started this restaurant in '68. 1968. And it's been my business for twenty-one years. She was born in 1928. She had saw a lot."
Minnie Lee's picture is among many hung up on the walls of she and her daughter Linda's establishment. The artist is Ms. Pamela Farmer, who says she's been drawing since she was 10 years old. She's now 77.
"I like the art. It's nice. It's history." said Wheeler, "Through Ms. Pamela. She did 'em. She's one of my customers."
"My father was an artist. So, he and my mother were very artistic people so I guess that's what I inherited from them." said Farmer, "I'd heard about Scottsboro Boys, but I had never known anything about it." These group of boys would later become part of her body of work. Ms. Farmer's dad was the one who told her about the Scottsboro boys story.
"He said that he had actually attended the trials," said Farmer.
Farmer's work extends beyond the walls of her home and local restaurants. She's also sent them to schools and now even though her sight has failed her she makes copies.
"I can't read anymore. Never in my whole life have I ever dreamed that my sight would be this bad." said Farmer, "I want the children to know how things have come about to where we are today ."
We also stopped into the Morgan County Archives, where we took you last year. John Allison, Morgan County Archives Director, shared why the Scottsboro boys story is still relevant and still important. "I think the fact that we're openly discussing our common civil rights heritage and the legacy of both the positive and negative impacts of our local history, it's been good to see."