Photograph of Samuel Leibowitz with four released "Scottsboro Boys": Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

An early copy print black-and-white photograph of four released “Scottsboro Boys” and their attorney, Samuel Leibowitz. This photograph was captured inside the wood-paneled office of New York City attorney Samuel Leibowitz. Seated on a wooden bench seat at his large office window with his legs up, Leibowitz points out the Statue of Liberty to Eugene Williams, Willie Roberson, Roy Wright, and Olen Montgomery (left to right). Leibowitz wears a light dress shirt, dark trousers, and two-tone laced dress shoes. Three of the boys are dressed in dungarees. Beside Eugene Williams is a bronze sculpture of a human figure standing on one leg.

A large typewritten caption on the reverse of the photograph gives details about the capture: [20526 / ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO FROM NEW YORK / CAUTION: USE CREDIT / CITING THE STATE OF LIBERTY / NEW YORK, JULY 26 ---- HIS FINGER POINTING / OUT THE STATE OF LIBERTY, SAMUEL LEIBOWITZ, ATTORNEY HOLDS THE ATTENTION OF THE FOUR / FREED SCOTTSBORO BOYS NOW VISITING HERE. / WHILE EUGENE WILLIAMS WATCHES THE DOINGS, / (LEFT TO RIGHT) WILLIE ROBERSON, ROY WRIGHT / AND OLIN MONTGOMERY FOLLOW THE ATTORNEY’S / FINGER. / ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO / NYC NEWARK PX PG CX MIL AHH 3:50 PEDT / 7/26/37 NYWD].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: July 26, 1937
• Photograph by: Unidentified
• Published by: Associated Press, American, founded 1846
• Subject of: Samuel Leibowitz, Romanian American, 1893 - 1978
• Subject of: Olen Montgomery, American, born 1914
• Subject of: Willie Roberson, American
• Subject of: Roy Wright, American, 1918 - 1959
• Subject of: Eugene Williams, American, born 1918
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (image): 6 9/16 × 8 3/8 in. (16.7 × 21.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (sheet): 7 1/16 × 9 in. (17.9 × 22.9 cm)
• Place captured: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: American South
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Justice
• Topic: Labor
• Topic: Law
• Topic: Photography
• Object number: 2021.16.9.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown – Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.