It is widely understood that Harper Lee based the character of Scout Finch largely around herself, so it would certainly stand to reason that they would have similar experiences in their respective childhoods.
Both were raised in Alabama, but perhaps the similarity that stands out the most between the two is that both Lee's and Scout's fathers were attorneys who defended black men, something considered extraordinarily controversial at the time. It can be inferred from this that the character of Atticus Finch is most likely heavily based upon Lee's real father.
In fact, Harper Lee's father once defended nine black men who were accused of raping two white women. Though there was medical evidence of innocence, all but one of the men were sentenced to death. This event shares striking similarities with the trial in the novel.
Harper Lee based the character of Scout on herself, so many of Scout's childhood experiences reflect similar ones in Harper Lee's own past. For example, the friendship between Scout and Dill was inspired by Harper Lee's friendship with the writer Truman Capote, whose physical description in real life resembles Dill closely. Also, Harper Lee's father was an attorney like Atticus Finch, so it is likely that family discussions around court cases involving black men like the ones at the Finch home were also inspired by real-life conversations. During the 1930s, when Harper Lee would have been a child, having been born in 1926, a real trial was underway concerning the accusation by two white women of rape by a group of young black men. The Scottsboro Trials, as they are remembered, parallel many of the details of Tom Robinson's trial in the novel.
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