From Carnegie Hall to Music Hall Twenty-one-year-old Victoria Price was tough talking, tobacco chewing , twice married, and had served time in a workhouse for adultery and vagrancy. Seventeen-year-old Ruby Bates, who was quiet and soft-spoken, disappeared after the first trial and re- emerged at the second (which Liebowitz also lost) as a surprise wit- ness for the defense. Like Liebowitz, she was forever transformed by the trials: She not only became an advocate for the defendants, she became a lifelong member of the Communist Parry," Goodman said. The former rural red- neck ended up living in Harlem with a black lover. It was, Goodman noted, one of the stranger journeys in American history. For the New York-based filmmakers, the trek South was also a strange jour- ney. When Anker and Goodman arrived in the hilly environs of Scottsboro in the 1990s, they were ini- tially regarded with suspicion. The white citizens of the sleepy, quaint town perceived them as Yankees — and a bit like 'Jew- Commie-filmmakers,'" Goodman said. "But it was very understated." The documentarians, meanwhile, were well aware that time was of the essence. All of the main characters of the Scottsboro drama had died, and two of the last remaining witnesses were gravely ill. So the filmmakers were relieved when several Scottsboro residents put their suspicions aside to appear on camera. One of their assumptions shocked Anker: "They still regarded the black defendants as guilty," the producer said. "For them, the case was merely the story of a rape." (When the defendants switched to a local lawyer for the third trial, the decisions had been reversed.) For the filmmakers, the Scottsboro affair marked an important victory for civil rights in America. The case spurred two, key Supreme Court deci- sions: One mandating integrated juries, the other requiring that indi- gent clients in capital cases receive adequate legal defense. "During the trials, whites and blacks marched together for the first time ever,". Goodman noted. "Scottsboro gave birth to an integrated civil rights movement. 171 Scottsboro: An American Tragedy airs 9 p.m. Monday, April 2, on WTVS-Channel 56 in Detroit and nationally on other PBS sta- tions. Check your local listings. is ael Feinstein One Night Only! • Sat April 21 • 8PM Tickets from $25 to $60 • On sale at the Music Hall box office & all treRelanaster locations • Charge by phone 248-645-6666 MU IC HA L CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS 350 MADISON • DETROIT PREMIUM SEATS & AFTERGLOW WITH MICHAEL FEINSTEIN $125 • For reservations or ticket info call 313-963-2366 All proceeds to benefit Music Hall's programming, educational efforts and the Ford Detroit International Jazz Festival David Klein Gallery presents Modernism in America ENTERTAINMENT SECTION! Paintings and Works on paper from 1914 to 1950 Anthony Angarola Ernest Fiene Louis Lozowick Henry Billings David Fredenthal Alfred Maurer Charles Burchfield Aaron Henry Corson Zoltan Sepeshy Minna Citron Samuel Halpert Ben Shahn Konrad Cramer Walt Kuhn Abraham Walkowitz Stuart Davis Edmund Lewandowski William Zorach March 3 — April 21, 2001 163 TOWNSEND BIRMINGHAM MI 48009 TELEPHONE 248.433.3700 FAX 248.433.3702 HOURS: MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY 11 - 5:30 3/30 2001