In 1931, nine black boys were hitching a ride aboard the Southern Railroad freight train. The illegal use of the freight trains was a common mode of transportation for Depression-era workers, both white and black. News had spread that jobs were available in Memphis, so those in search of survival hopped on the Chattanooga train. The group included nine black boys, ranging from age twelve to nineteen, some from Chattanooga and four others from Georgia. They were: Andy Wright, Willie Roberson, Charles Weems, Ozie Powell, Olen Montgomery, Eugene Williams, Haywood Patterson, Clarence Norris and Roy Wright. They rode the car that included other white children and adults who were ‘hoboing’ to Memphis.
