Telegram from the White House to William Paterson, National Secretary of the International Labor Defense

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Description

In reply to a letter from William Paterson asking for President Roosevelt to receive five of the Scottsboro boys’ mothers on Mother’s Day, the White House declined the request due to the case being in Alabama’s jurisdiction.

For more information about the Scottsboro case, read The Scottsboro Boys: Injustice in Alabama from the Spring 2014 issue of Prologue, the Quarterly Publication of the National Archives.

Citation

This primary source comes from the Collection FDR-FDRPOF: President’s Official Files (Roosevelt Administration).

National Archives Identifier: 2780370

Full Citation: Telegram from the White House to William Paterson, National Secretary of the International Labor Defense; 5/11/1934; OF 532: Scottsboro Case 1933-1940; Franklin D. Roosevelt President’s Official Files, 1933 – 1945; Collection FDR-FDRPOF: President’s Official Files (Roosevelt Administration),; Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/document/telegram-white-house-william-paterson-scottsboro/, April 3, 2026]

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