My Trip to Monroeville

My Trip To Monroeville Alabama- The Home of Harper Lee
and To Kill A Mockingbird
Saturday April 18, 2009

" An exact replica of the Monroeville, Alabama courtroom was duplicated on a Universal sound stage for the climactic scenes in "To Kill A Mockingbird."...Monroeville is Harper Lee's home town, The courtroom was where Miss Lee's father, Amasa Lee, practiced law during his long legal career. Miss Lee actually finished writing "To Kill A Mockingbird" in her father's law office. Construction of the courtroom set was based on photographs and sketches made by a Universal staff of art directors sent to Monroeville." Source: page 5 TKAM Showman's Manual

For years I have wanted to visit the place portrayed in the novel and film: To Kill A Mockingbird.
On a visit with my son in Dothan, we drove three hours west to Monroeville. Upon entering
the old courthouse, now a museum, we were greeted warmly by Jane Ellen Clark, the education
director of the museum. She gave us a map of the courthouse and made us feel most welcome.

When driving into Monroeville, you can't miss the courthouse. From a half mile away, you can
see the tall white steeple and all roads into town lead right to it. It was a beautiful day in
South Alabama, and I have waited a long time just to do this. My son Bryan took this photo
outside the entrance to the courthouse which is now a museum. The first thing we did was
pick up a brochure that describes Monroeville in the 1930s (the time period portrayed in both
the novel and film). Both Harper Lee and Truman Capote lived in homes just blocks from the
courthouse. (Beside the courthouse I saw chairs set up, because the annual TKAM play will be
performed there next weekend.)

Exterior photo of the courthouse. Photo source; Another angle here.


My POV: standing near the judge's bench in the front of the courtroom (which is located on the 2nd floor) looking toward the back, with the balcony clearly in view. The producers of TKAM created an almost exact replica of this courtroom for the film.	Publicity still from the film--showing Gregory Peck (Atticus) delivering his closing argument ...standing in a similar position as I was in the actual courtroom. (photo courtesy of Pakula-Mulligan/Brentwood Productions)

This is one of the displays upstairs in a room adjacent to the courtroom: this one contains
panels with background on Harper Lee, the film, and set designer Henry Bumstead's trip to
Monroeville so that he could get ideas for his award-winning set design. On the panel
to the left you can see storyboards Bumstead created as a result of his visit. Also, a DVD was
playing entitled "Mockingbird Memories." Another room provided background on author
Truman Capote, a childhood friend of Harper. She modeled the character Dill after Capote.

Want to see more interior shots: go to: To Kill A Mockingbird - the Monroe County Courthouse

See other publicity stills of the TKAM courtroom scenes

Want to know more about the film? Go to my film study guide online.