Oct. 16 — While further along than they once thought the centers would be, the Horton House, which will become the Judge James E. Horton Jr. Legal Learning Center, and the Decatur Scottsboro Boys Civil Rights Museum are still at least a year away from opening.
“We have to remember that our history is not always glamorous, and it’s not always comfortable,” said Celebrating Early Old Town With Art (CEOTA) board member Peggy Allen Towns. “But it’s still our stories, so we still have to tell our stories. We can’t put them under a blanket and hide them or put them under a lampshade and hide them. They are our stories.
“Unless we talk about our stories, unless we discuss the inequities, how will we grow? How will we move forward if we don’t talk about these things? Our history is uncomfortable.”
Towns said we need to learn to grow from our history.
“Grow from those stories. Grow from unfairness. Grow from the victories,” she said.
The 3,960-square-foot Horton House belonged to Judge James E. Horton Jr., who presided over one of the Scottsboro Boys cases. The move to Decatur was its second move. Originally, it was completed in 1849 where the Athens City Hall sits. After the Scottsboro Boys trial, Horton moved his house in 1939 to Greenbrier.
CEOTA was donated the house by Horton’s family members and moved it to 212 Church St. N.W. in Decatur in October 2023. They are also renovating an old boarding house at 818 Sycamore St. N.W. in Decatur that Ruby Bates, one of the accusers, stayed in during the Decatur trial.
The Scottsboro Boys trials began in 1931 when nine Black youths were arrested in Jackson County and falsely accused of raping two white women. They were indicted less than a week after their arrests and convicted less than a month after they were charged.
After the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the convictions because the defendants weren’t given adequate counsel, the second trial of Haywood Patterson was held in Decatur with Horton, who lived in Athens, presiding.
Despite one of the alleged victims, Bates, testifying that their original allegations against the Scottsboro Boys were false and several witnesses providing conflicting testimony, the all-white jury convicted Patterson of rape and sentenced him to death in Alabama’s electric chair.
Believing the defendants were indeed innocent and the alleged victims had lied, Horton set aside the verdict on June 22, 1933, in a decision he read at the Limestone County Courthouse, ordering a new trial for Patterson and indefinitely postponing trials for the rest, ruling they could not get a fair trial.
“We’re all about preserving their history,” Towns said. “The focus is to empower our communities now as well as future generations to help during trying times, I would say. We know the legal learning center will be an inspiration to everybody that comes through those doors with the courage of Judge Horton and all that he stood for. And particularly with the bravery that he showed during the trial and others as well.”
Brandon A. Owens Sr. is the executive director of the learning center and museum.
“Judge Horton’s decision in Decatur to stand for justice against enormous political and social pressure remains one of the most powerful examples of moral courage in American judicial history,” he said. “The story and its connection to Decatur reminds us that doing what’s right is not always popular, but it’s always necessary. By preserving and teaching his legacy, we are empowering a new generation to lead with integrity, empathy, faith and justice.”
Owens said the exterior work on the Horton House is basically complete.
“Including a rebuilt brick foundation. We restored the chimneys, replaced rotting sideboards and porch columns,” he said. “And it’s just gotten a fresh coat of paint that brings it home back to its original beauty.”
Towns said there is still work to be done in the interior, including plumbing and electrical work.
Owens said the learning center and museum buildings are in the same historic district. He said they will work in tandem. Owens said the Horton House will focus on legal learning.
“We’ll have educational programming, not only for students on the elementary level, but high school, and we are also forming partnerships with colleges, universities and law schools throughout Alabama,” he said.
More is yet to be built, Owens said.
“We’re now kind of transitioning into an expansion phase,” he said. “It will include the development of a large mock courtroom, a meeting space, and classrooms on the adjacent property. We’ll connect both buildings into one cohesive campus.”
Owens said opening the buildings is still some time away.
“But the community can look forward to educational and public programs in 2026,” he said.
