Documents Relating to the Trial of Ruby McCollum for the Murder of Dr. LeRoy Adams, Live Oak, Florida
Scope and Content
Notes on the trial by Zora Neale Hurston, a Hurston letter to William Bradford Huie, notes compiled by an unknown source, and official court documents. All documents are photocopies.
Additional photocopies of archival material on the Ruby McCollum trial gathered from the Ohio State University Archives' William Bradford Huie Papers include Huie's notes and contracts regarding his book Ruby McCollum: The Woman In the Suwanee Jail and screenplay drafts. Also included are photocopies of original correspondence from Zora Neale Hurston and Ruby McCollum as well as copies of newspaper clippings and official circuit court records. The original folder from the Huie Papers is listed in parentheses.
Dates
- Creation: 1953 - 2003
- Creation: 1953 - 1959
Access
The collection is open for research.
Biographical/Historical Note
In 1952, Ruby McCollum, a Black woman shot and killed her white lover, prominent Live Oak, Florida, physician C. Leroy Adams. Her subsequent conviction and death sentence (1954) were later overturned by the Florida Supreme Court, but she was declared mentally incompetent and incarcerated for many years in a mental hospital. Zora Neale Hurston covered the trial for the Pittsburgh Courier and collaborated with William Bradford Huie whose book, Ruby McCollum: Woman in the Suwannee Jail (New York, 1956) is the principal account of the case.
Extent
0.58 Linear feet (1 Box)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Documents relating to the trial of Ruby McCollum for the murder of Dr. LeRoy Adams, Live Oak, Florida, 1954. Official records copied from the State of Florida Archives and notes and correspondence of Zora Neale Hurston, among others. Also included are copies of Ruby McCollum related documents copied from the William Bradford Huie Papers (Ohio State University Archives).
Physical Location
University of Florida Smathers Library Building
Subject
- McCollum, Ruby, defendant. (Person)
- Adams, C. Leroy, -1952. (Person)
- Hurston, Zora Neale. (Person)
- Huie, William Bradford, 1910-1986. (Person)
- Title
- A Guide to the Documents Relating to the Trial of Ruby McCollum for the Murder of Dr. LeRoy Adams, Live Oak, Florida, 1954
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Dept. Staff
- Date
- March 2005 (Updated May 2019)
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Prepared Using Dacs
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida Repository
George A. Smathers Libraries
PO Box 117005
Gainesville Florida 32611-7005 United States of America
352-273-2755
special@uflib.ufl.edu