Papers

File — Box: W0094.01, Folder: 1

Scope and Contents

From the Collection: Contains nine documents, including a newspaper clipping, an affidavit completed by a witness, and the research notes compiled by lawyer John C. Morrow during the 1921 trial of Edwin Stephenson. Stephenson, a Methodist minister and Klansman, murdered Father James Coyle, a Catholic priest, shortly after Coyle officiated the marriage of Stephenson's daughter against her father's wishes. Morrow served as a prosecuting lawyer on the case, and his notes document the prosecution's rebuttal of the insanity plea presented by the defense and highlight the role that religion played in the case.

Notable documents include a notarized witness statement signed by Douglas White, which was not used during the trial. White was not allowed to testify during the trial, but his notarized statement was published after the trial in the Catholic newspaper the Daily American Tribune. In the statement, White attested that Stephenson shot Coyle without provocation.

Another notable document is a draft of Morrow's closing argument, in which the lawyer states that the "world is watching Birmingham" and appeals to the jury to look beyond their anti-Catholic prejudices.