LEE, Andrew H.

PERSONAL: Male.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square S., New York, NY 10012. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: New York University, New York, NY, librarian.

WRITINGS:

(Editor and author of introduction) Lin Shi Khan and Tony Perez, Scottsboro, Alabama: A Story in Linoleum Cuts, foreword by Robin D. G. Kelly, New York University Press (New York, NY), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: New York University librarian Andrew H. Lee discovered a set of original lino-prints by Lin Shi Khan and Tony Perez on the infamous Scottsboro case, and decided to bring the work to light after some six decades. The block prints reproduced in Scottsboro, Alabama: A Story in Linoleum Cuts illustrate what many now consider one of the most heinous cases of racial injustice in American history. In 1931, nine young black males were convicted of raping two white women, based on little evidence other than they were on the same train bound for Memphis. Eight were given death sentences, while the remaining men were sentenced to life in prison. Although four of the nine were later released, the others remained in prison for several years. Though Khan and Perez created their work in 1935, it was not published until 2002.

Lee's revival of Scottsboro, Alabama brought the tragic episode in U.S. history to light for a new generation. For Edward M. Gomez, writing in Black Issues Book Review, the book serves as "a disturbing if visually stunning record of an episode that should not be forgotten." Booklist critic Ray Olson was grateful to Lee, and considered Scottsboro, Alabama "a progenitor of the contemporary graphic novel that artistically outclasses most current examples of the genre."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

ARTnews, October, 2002, Robert Atkins, "Gritty Prints," p. 112.

Black Issues Book Review, July-August, 2002, Edward M. Gomez, review of Scottsboro, Alabama: A Story in Linoleum Cuts, p. 21.

Booklist, July, 2002, Ray Olson, review of Scottsboro,Alabama, p. 1803.

Library Journal, June 1, 2002, Anthony J. Adam, review of Scottsboro, Alabama, p. 142.

Publishers Weekly, July 8, 2002, review of Scottsboro,Alabama, p. 44.

Ruminator Review, spring, 2003, Paula Derdiger, "Wrongful Conviction," p. 33.