Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird: Background
Prepared by Mrs. Roff, library media specialist
"Harper Lee grew up in Monroeville, a small Alabama town very much like the fictional town of Maycomb"(1). Before her novel was published in 1960, Lee absorbed injustices in the historical happenings of her day, including the Jim Crow years, the Great Depression, WWII's Jewish Holocaust, and the Civil Rights Movement. These historic events are the backdrop of her Pulitzer prize winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.
View: To Kill a Mockingbird Setting A Portrait of a Southern Town in the 1930's
View: To Kill a Mockingbird Setting A Portrait of a Southern Town in the 1930's
The Jim Crow Years: Racial Segregation and Injustice (1877-1954)
Connect the practices and behavior of the Jim Crow era to the setting, characters, and events of To Kill a Mockingbird.
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"Maycomb's blacks are observing Jim Crow laws when they sit in the courthouse balcony during the trial. Segregation laws would have forbade their sitting below with the whites. Jim Crow also led to the segregation of black and white residential areas in southern towns. In Maycomb, the black community is called 'Quarters' " (1). Understanding Jim Crow: Systems of racial separation and institutionalized segregation VIDEO "Understanding the systems of racial separation and institutionalized segregation that are known as Jim Crow is essential for understanding the setting of To Kill A Mockingbird." |
Ferris State University: Jim Crow Museum
"Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system which operated primarily, but not exclusively in southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s."
Racial Segregation in the American South: Jim Crow Laws
"In addition to laws, there were certain unwritten social expectations. For example, a black man was not to shake hands with a white man and he could not make eye-contact with a white woman or else he would be accused of highly inappropriate sexual advances."
PBS: The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow Interactive
"The trial of unjust trial of a black man in To Kill a Mockingbird has parallels with other trials that occurred in Alabama during Harper Lee's childhood. In the infamous Scottsboro case of the 1930's, two white women accused nine African-American youths of rape."
"Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system which operated primarily, but not exclusively in southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s."
Racial Segregation in the American South: Jim Crow Laws
"In addition to laws, there were certain unwritten social expectations. For example, a black man was not to shake hands with a white man and he could not make eye-contact with a white woman or else he would be accused of highly inappropriate sexual advances."
PBS: The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow Interactive
"The trial of unjust trial of a black man in To Kill a Mockingbird has parallels with other trials that occurred in Alabama during Harper Lee's childhood. In the infamous Scottsboro case of the 1930's, two white women accused nine African-American youths of rape."
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HELPFUL MHS LIBRARY BOOKS
Life Under the Jim Crow Laws by Charles George Farewell to Jim Crow by R. Kent Rasmussen The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow by Richard Wormser Backlash: Race Riots in the Jim Crow Era by Calvin Miller |
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The Great Depression and the South (1929-1939)
Link facts about The Great Depression with the setting, characters, and events of To Kill a Mockingbird.
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"The Depression hit the South especially hard, because they had already experienced decades of economic depression. The southern economy depended on agriculture. The prices of agricultural products dropped to levels not seen since the Civil War, over sixty years before. Atticus tells Scout that the Cunninghams 'are country folks, farmers, and the crash hit them the hardest' "(1). |
FDR and The Depression VIDEO
"When Atticus discussed the Cunninghams with Scout, he says, 'If he held his mouth right, Mr. Cunningham could get a WPA job, but his land would go to ruin if he left it.' The WPA was Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration. This New Deal program helped jobless people keep their self-respect by giving them useful work."
The Great Depression, The New Deal, and Alabama's Political Leadership Alabama Department of Archives and History
"President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal brought renewed hope to Alabamians, who voted overwhelmingly for him in four consecutive presidential elections. In return, New Deal programs dramatically changed the state."
The Works Progress Administration (WPA - job that Mr. Cunningham couldn't get) - PBS article
"For an average salary of $41.57 a month, WPA employees built bridges, roads, public buildings, public parks and airports."
The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: The Great Depression
"Mary McLeod Bethune access to the White House; these advisors were known as the "Black Cabinet." Federal agencies began to open their doors to blacks, providing jobs, relief, farm subsidies, education, training, and participation in a variety of federal programs."
"President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal brought renewed hope to Alabamians, who voted overwhelmingly for him in four consecutive presidential elections. In return, New Deal programs dramatically changed the state."
The Works Progress Administration (WPA - job that Mr. Cunningham couldn't get) - PBS article
"For an average salary of $41.57 a month, WPA employees built bridges, roads, public buildings, public parks and airports."
The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: The Great Depression
"Mary McLeod Bethune access to the White House; these advisors were known as the "Black Cabinet." Federal agencies began to open their doors to blacks, providing jobs, relief, farm subsidies, education, training, and participation in a variety of federal programs."
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HELPFUL MHS LIBRARY BOOKS
FDR's alphabet soup : New Deal America, 1932-1939 by Tonya Bolden Critical Perspectives on the Great Depression edited by Paul Kupperberg Hard Times: The 30s by the editors by Time Life Books |
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WWII: The Holocaust - Persecution of the Jews (1933-1945)
Compare the prejudice and persecution of the Jews during the Holocaust with the prejudice and persecution of African Americans in the south as depicted in To Kill a Mockingbird. Compare = Likenesses and Differences
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"The students ask how such injustice could be possible. Their teacher, Miss Gates, explains that the United States is 'a democracy and Germany is a dictatorship....Over here we don't believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced.' " (1) Scout notices the hypocrisy. She asks Jem, "How can you hate Hitler so bad an' then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home?" (1). |
The Path to Nazi Genocide VIDEO
What is the Black Holocaust? America's Black Holocaust Museum
"The four hundred-year history of captured Africans and their descendants has many similarities with the Holocaust experiences of European Jews – and other victims of mass atrocities."
What is the Black Holocaust? America's Black Holocaust Museum
"The four hundred-year history of captured Africans and their descendants has many similarities with the Holocaust experiences of European Jews – and other victims of mass atrocities."
United States Holocaust History Museum"
"In April 1933, German law restricted the number of Jewish students at German schools and universities."
The History Place - Holocaust Timeline
"Where books are burned, human beings are destined to be burned too." - Heinrich Heine
London Jewish Cultural Center
"Gradually over the next ten years theses laws would affect every facet of Jewish existence with Germany and the lands that they eventually invaded and occupied."
"In April 1933, German law restricted the number of Jewish students at German schools and universities."
The History Place - Holocaust Timeline
"Where books are burned, human beings are destined to be burned too." - Heinrich Heine
London Jewish Cultural Center
"Gradually over the next ten years theses laws would affect every facet of Jewish existence with Germany and the lands that they eventually invaded and occupied."
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HELPFUL MHS LIBRARY BOOKS
The Holocaust: Great Disasters, Reforms, and Ramifications by Judy L. Hasday The Jewish Victims of the Holocaust by Linda Jacobs Altman The Holocaust Death Camps - Tamara L. Roleff (editor) |
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The Civil Rights Movement: (1954 - 1965)
In what ways does To Kill a Mockingbird reflect the 50's and 60's Civil Rights view of racial issues, rather than those of the 1930's south?
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" It was just as the civil rights movement was heating up that Lee was writing To Kill a Mockingbird. During that time, Lee made frequent trips between New York and Alabama, an important center of the movement. It is curious that Lee decided not to place her characters - who confront the evils of racism and injustice - in a contemporary setting" (1). |
Modern Civil Rights Movement in Alabama Encyclopedia of Alabama
"Alabama was the site of some of the most defining events of the civil rights era."
"Alabama was the site of some of the most defining events of the civil rights era."
Civil Rights Movement: An Overview Grolier Encyclopedia
A look at the largest social movement of the 20th century, including the Brown decision, the challenge to social segregation, voting rights, black power, and the movements legacy
A look at the largest social movement of the 20th century, including the Brown decision, the challenge to social segregation, voting rights, black power, and the movements legacy
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HELPFUL MHS LIBRARY BOOKS
Little Rock Girl 1957 : How a photograph Changed the Fight for Integration by Shelley Tougas The Civil Rights Movement Marching in Birmingham Sit-Ins and Freedom Rides Montgomery Bus Boycott Freedom Summer Social Reform Movements: The Civil Rights Movement by Charles Patterson Civil Rights Movement 1954-1968 Mitch Yamasaki, PHD The Civil Rights Movement by Nick Treanor A Dream of Freedom: The Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1968 by Diane McWhorter |
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The Trial of the Scottsboro Boys: A prime example of the Jim Crow era 1930's south
Compare the Scottsboro case with the Tim Robinson case. Compare = Likeness and Differences
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"The story of Tom Robinson in the novel has similarities with the incidents that occurred in Lee's native Alabama. Among these is the Scottsboro case, which started when Lee was about five years old" (1), one year younger than Scout at the start of the novel. |
The Scottsboro Boys Emory University VIDEO
The Scottsboro Boys' Case Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center
The Scottsboro Boys Garrick Theater
"In 1931, nine black youths ages 13 to 19 were pulled from a train, arrested and taken to nearby Scottsboro, Alabama, where they were jailed, tried, and declared guilty of raping two white women — a crime that never occurred."
The Scottsboro Boys Garrick Theater
"In 1931, nine black youths ages 13 to 19 were pulled from a train, arrested and taken to nearby Scottsboro, Alabama, where they were jailed, tried, and declared guilty of raping two white women — a crime that never occurred."
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HELPFUL MHS LIBRARY BOOKS
The Trial of the Scottsboro Boys by David Aretha Three (3) books |
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1. Related quotes and organization courtesy of The Story Behind Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird by Byron Giddens-White, 2007.