PARADE Dramaturgy Packet

Jacob Kresloff, September 2013

Authors Note: The term Negro is used throughout these notes. For the
sake of this document, the term is used to accurately depict Atlantas
social climate during the early twentieth-century and by NO MEANS is an
expression of the writers ideologies and beliefs.

People of Interest
Leo & Lucille Frank: Born in Cuero, Texas to Rudolph and Rachel Jacobs Frank, Leo
moved to Brooklyn when he was 3 months old. He graduated from Cornell University
in 1906 with a degree in mechanical engineering. After graduating, he took on two
apprenticeships: he served as a draftsman at B.T. Sturtevant Company in
Massachusetts for 6 months and then as a testing engineer at the National Meter
Company in Brooklyn until October 1907.

Rudolph Frank was injured in a railway accident, forcing him to retire. His
family lived on the interest of the injury settlement. Leos uncle, Moses, a
southerner and Civil War veteran, suggested that he find a way support his family.
He was an investor in the National Pencil Company in Atlanta and thought Leo would
make him an ideal candidate to help improve the company. Before moving to
Atlanta, Leo spent a 9 month apprenticeship at Eberhard Faber in Bavaria to learn
about pencil manufacturing. After returning to the states, Leo moved to Atlanta to
begin his career.

In his first months in Atlanta, Leo spent his days at the citys landmark hotel.
There, he listened to classical music (he was an avid Strauss fan), reading, and
playing bridge and chess (he even drew pictures of each chess piece with the detail
of a draftsman, labeling each with a description of their purpose). Although Leos
work at the NPC was gratifying, he wasnt the most popular fellow in Atlanta. At 5
foot 6 inches, weighing in at 120 pounds, and with a rather angular face, Leo was
hardly the image of southern masculinity. To many a southerner, he looked like a
typical calculating Yankee. To his friends and colleagues, Leo gave off the air of a
considerate and meticulous man, if a bit straight-laced. He was a strong presence in
the Atlanta Jewish community and would eventually serve as president of Bnai
Brith, a Jewish community service organization, for 2 years.

A week after arriving to Atlanta, Leo was introduced to Lucille Selig. The
youngest of three, Lucille came from a well-to-do family of Jewish industrialists. Her
mothers side of the family often boasted that two generations earlier, Lucilles
grandfather founded Atlantas first synagogue. Her father, Emil, came from a family

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of prosperous businessmen -- her uncle Simon owned the familys business, West
Disinfectant, where Emil worked. However, she was by no means financially
secure. Lucille was considered to be pretty, but many thought her weight detracted
from her beauty. She was a pragmatist but had a mind for a loftier lifestyle: she did
her own sewing, but often dreamed to enter the world of debutantes and balls.
However, because of her weight and her Jewishness, those dreams were out of
reach. Nevertheless, when Lucille met her future husband she found herself able to
indulge a bit: she splurged on Gibson blouses, fashionable outfits, and tickets to the
theatre.

Apparently, Leos arrival in Atlanta was a godsend -- perhaps because the

states below the Mason-Dixon Line lacked enough Jewish suitors of marrying age. At
any rate, Leo and Lucilles chemistry was almost immediate; Lucille would later
write that if there are such things as cases of love at first sight, Leo Franks love
for me and my love for Leo Frank is a case in indisputable point. Lucilles quick-wit
and southern charm would eventually help Leo come out of his stoic shell -- she
admittedly enjoyed making him blush. Soon after the couples engagement (a mere
10 months after they met), Lucille went on a trip to visit her Uncle Simon in Athens.
Letters to Lucille show that Leos affection for her was genuine, even though he had
difficulty expressing it at first. He first wrote, I am not much on the sentimental
letter writing. Read between the lines and see if you can feel the warmth of the
writers feeling for you...Yours for eternal happiness... This stinted and somewhat
awkward prose, however, would soon dissolve completely:

[I] was carried transcendentally to the seventh hour of happiness and joy by
the receipt of your letter of the 14thIll wager you broke a few hearts [in
Athens]. Mine is broken by absent treatment. Everyone remarks how thin I
am getting Are you affected that way?...Please let me know the time when
your train is scheduled to arrive in Atlanta so I can greet the Goddess
Athena...

Soon, Leo would feel comfortable enough to be romantic in person. One Valentines
Day, he presented his fiance with a large red heart which bore his name on it. The
couple would marry in October of 1910, and they took residence in Lucilles parents
home.

The couple certainly faced hardship, but throughout their nearly two and a
half years of marriage, history shows that they were never truly unhappy together.
Naturally, there would be friction: Lucille did not necessarily identify with her Jewish
heritage as much as Leo did, and she often laughed at the idea of speaking in

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Yiddish; Lucille loved ragtime while Leo preferred to listen to symphonies; and
although the couple desperately wanted a family, they were unable to conceive. It
was later revealed that Lucille was once pregnant, but suffered a miscarriage soon
after Leo was convicted for murder.

Mary Phagan & Family: Mary was born in Florence, Alabama in 1899. Her father,
William Joshua Phagan, died of the measles 2 months Mary was born. Around 1900,
Marys mother, Fannie moved her family to Marietta, which was 20 miles northwest
of Atlanta. In 1907, the Phagans relocated again to Eagen where Fannie opened a
boardinghouse.

At thirteen, Mary Phagan was considered to be quite the beauty: with bright blue
eyes, a beguiling smile, and a busty figure, Mary attracted the attention of many
boys her age. She was, for a lack of a better word, a hillbilly. She loved the prospect
of living the glamorous life seen in the silent movies she frequented, but her
chances of escaping poverty were very unlikely. Mary lived in Atlantas Bellwood
section, the white working-class neighborhood, which was northwest of downtown
Atlanta and located between the Exposition Cotton Mill and the Atlantic Steel Mill.
Near the steel mill was a collection of nigger shacks.

It wasnt until 1912 -- when Fannie remarried to John Coleman -- that the
family moved to Atlanta. Coleman occasionally worked at the Exposition mill, but for
the most part he was employed for sanitation department. Like many girls her age,
Mary quit school to work. By the time she was ten, she found part-time work at a
textile mill. In 1911, she began working at a paper manufacturer and in the spring
of 1912, she found work at the National Pencil Company. At the NPC, she was paid
10 cents an hour for working a knurling machine an apparatus which affixed
eraser heads to brass sheet metal on pencils but was laid off due to a shortage of
brass sheet metal.

Jim Conley: Jim was the sweeper for the National Pencil Company. Most historians
believe him to be Marys true killer and the writer of the murder notes. He was
represented by William M. Smith, a lawyer known for representing Negro clients,
who admitted after the trial that he believed Conley to be guilty while on his
deathbed. Despite Conleys lowly status, he was the only Negro figure in this case
able to read and write, if only a little bit, though he denied it at first. The 29 year-old
was born in Atlanta and his parents worked at the Capital City Laundry. Besides his
job history, his criminal record, and his place of birth, not much else is known about
Conleys life. These threads of information, however, paint enough of a picture to
understand what his life might have been like. His job history is indicative of a

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difficult life: in early years, he sawed wood at a lumberyard; he then moved on to
odd jobs such as a horse groomer, a delivery boy for a stationary company, and
sweeper for the Pencil Company. He was first hired to operate the company elevator
-- a lofty position -- but was quickly demoted. Conley was a gambler, and many
testimonies reveal that he frequently asked factory workers to lend him money. His
drinking habits were considered intolerable and he often blacked out. As a result, he
often found himself in trouble with the law. Conley was arrested so often for public
drunkenness and disorderly conduct that he tried to rename himself Willie in the
hopes of escaping the police. Many of his crimes warranted fines, but several
offenses -- including a rock-throwing incident and attempted armed robbery --
earned him many trips to the chain gang. Not three months before Mary Phagans
death, Conley earned more time in prison when he tried to shoot Lorena Jones, a
woman with whom he lived but never married.

Newt Lee: Newt was the night watchman at the National Pencil Company. Already
50 at the time of the trial, Lee was born into slavery and received no formal
education. Newt always tried to remain docile and humble, but some writers of the
time describe him as a black, ignorant, corn-fed, potlikker-fed darky...His big frame
is slightly bent, not from weakness but from the natural laziness of his type. [He] is
beyond doubt a white mans nigger. He was initially suspected of killing Mary
Phagan, but his only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lee
resided in the Bellwood section of Atlanta, not far from where Marys family lived.

Hugh Dorsey: A Georgia native, Dorsey was a lawyer-politician who came from a
long line of attorneys. After graduating from law school, he joined and became a
partner in his fathers law firm of Dorsey, Brewster, and Howell. He was later
appointed solicitor general -- or chief prosecuting attorney -- in the Atlanta Judicial
Circuit. However, he did not have the best track record. Prior to prosecuting Leo
Frank, Dorsey failed to convict two murderers. In fact, such publications as the
Atlanta Georgian frequently questioned Dorseys prosecution skills; they argued
that he never [showed] any unusual skill as a detective. Another defeat would
surely spell the end of his career.

Dorsey was ambitious, mockingly predatorily, and above all, and eager to
gain public recognition. He believed that prosecuting the murder of young Mary
Phagan would be the perfect opportunity. Unafraid of getting his hands dirty, Dorsey
constantly shifted between the roles of the good ol southern boy and that of the
shrewd lawyer. Indeed, Dorsey presented facts that not only suggested Franks guilt,
but also fed rumors which forever tarnished Franks reputation. It was later revealed

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that he coerced witnesses like George Epps and Magnolia McKnight to distort the
truth during their testimonies. Rosser would later attack Dorseys means of
prosecution, arguing that he almost changed the course of time in an effort to get
Frank convicted. Indeed, the defenses closing statement argued that the case was
based exclusively on prejudice and perjury. We have never seen such malice and
personal hatred in all [our lives!], they cried. Despite the defenses accusations,
Dorsey successfully convicted Frank. Feted by the people of Atlanta, Dorsey
eventually secured his way to the top of Atlanta politics, serving as the Governor of
Georgia for two consecutive two-year terms.

Luther Z. Rosser: Luther Rosser was Leo Franks lead attorney. He had a
reputation of being the most persuasive and domineering lawyer in Atlanta and was
mostly hired by wealthy company-owners who wished to have their legal issues
expunged. His skill as an attorney, specifically, came from his proficiency at cross-
examining witnesses. His tactics often included challenging witnesses with rapid-fire
questioning and discrediting their testimonies with technical errors. Despite his
success as an attorney, Rossers defense in the Leo Frank case failed. It is possible
that he and his associate, Rueben Arnold, completely misjudged the nature of the
case. By the end of the trial, he was exhausted and lost a significant amount of
weight. Perhaps the combination of Dorseys prosecution and the overwhelming
public hostility towards Frank made Rossers performance, however earnest, pale in
comparison.

John & Sallie Slaton: Governor John Slaton, according to many historians,
embodied Georgias progressive nature during the early-twentieth century. Slatons
father was a long-time superintendent of Atlantas public schools. As a lawyer, he
represented Atlantas biggest businesses: Fulton Bag and the Cotton Mill. As
governor, Slaton worked to give teachers their full salaries (undoubtably an homage
to his fathers profession), sought preserve the integrity of the Atlantic railroad
when it fell into competition with other railroads, and developed a program which
distributed equal taxes to all citizens. His greatest act as governor was commuting
Leos Frank death sentence to life imprisonment.

Slatons wife, Sallie Grant, was an heiress to a $2 million estate conceived

in property, bought in railroads, and compounded in bonds. She and her husband
lived lavishly, making frequent trips to see the Ziegfeld Follies perform at the New
Amsterdam Theatre in New York and hosting fabulous parties. Sallie was a strong
and profound individual who endured great tragedy before marrying Slaton: her first
husband committed suicide. Before her first husband, Sallie studied at the Ballard
Academy and was even adored by a professor who composed a piano trilogy in

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honor of her beauty. She was also a proud sponsor of the Atlanta Players Club
where she would eventually play Lady Augusta Brackwell in Wildes The Importance
of Being Earnest. Sallie was admired by many citizens of Atlanta; even the
pseudonymous city gossip, Polly Peachtree, confessed her undying admiration: I
frankly confess myself her ardent admirer. Her beauty and wit will make the
executive mansion during her husbands administration the most brilliant state
court in all these United States.

Tom Watson: Tom Watson is remembered even today as a controversial individual.

A lawyer, politician, publisher, historian, and all around rabble-rouser, he served in
the Georgia General Assembly in 1882, the U.S. House of Representatives in 1890,
and in the U.S. Senate in 1920. As a young boy, he lost his family plantation during
the Reconstruction South; as a result he would always speak out again industrialism
and urbanization.

His social politics, however, were inconsistent. Watson first identified as a

liberal and then proceeded to identify as an advocate for white supremacy. Early in
his political career, he tried to appeal to the Negro voters by supporting the
abolition of the convict lease system -- or the use of convicts as a labor force; once
abolished, chain gangs would become more prominent -- and he promoted higher
taxes to make public education more accessible. He later became a proud voice in
the Farmers Alliance, which was organized in resentment towards the development
of the New South. He embodied the voice of Southern nationalism, celebrating the
traditional, rural, and God-fearing Southern lifestyle and vehemently speaking out
against foreigners.

Later in his political career, however, Watson published a weekly magazine

and newspaper -- respectively, Watsons Weekly and The Jeffersonian -- where his
racial and religious bigotry ran rampant. To entice his readers, he employed a
variety of rhetorical strategies including rumors, special pleading, and merciless
slander. He spoke out against the Negro, arguing that they had no comprehension
of virtue, honesty, truth, gratitude, and principal, going so far as to say that
lynching them was for the greater good. We lynch [them] occasionally...to keep him
from blaspheming the Almighty, by his conduct on account of [their] smell and
color, he once wrote. He had an enormous following -- almost 17,000 people hung
on his every word; during the Frank case, the sales of The Jeffersonian nearly
tripled, going from 27,000 to 87,000 over the course of 2 years.

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 Watsons crazed voice during Leos trial was among the loudest -- in his
weekly publications, he stirred anti-Semitic and xenophobic attitudes towards Frank.
After Leos mob lynching, Watson openly congratulated the assailants and
eventually joined the Knights of Mary Phagan in reviving the Ku Klux Klan with
Colonel William Simmons in 1915. One historian reports that he once called himself
the Klans king.

Britt Craig: Britt Craig was a staff writer for the Atlanta Constitution, where he
worked until 1912. His father, also a journalist, worked with The Gainesville Eagle.
He had a reputation as a drunk, and his writing style reflected that: his articles were
filled with poorly-devised puns and his stories werent always the most accurate.
However around the time of Mary Phagans murder, the 19 year-old writer was
considered one of the Constitutions rising stars, primarily because he possessed
two invaluable attributes: luck and moxie. One historian describes him as an
ingenious scamp with a habit of showing up in unlikely places One instance was
when Craig reported on the Salon du Bon Tons lingerie show at the local
department store, Richs. Craig hid himself in a cranny above the runway and used
a mirror to spy on models wearing the latest lingerie to women-only audiences. He
later ran back to the Constitution to report that figuratively speaking, there was
no greater show in town. Craig knew that if he didnt capture the Phagan Story first,
William Randolph Hurst and his team at the Atlanta Georgian would beat him to the
punch. Needless to say, he succeeded -- and his front page article would define his
career for the rest of his life.

Judge Leonard Roan: Leonard Roan, appointed as Judge of the George Court of
Appeals by Governor Slaton, was the presiding judge at the Fulton County Criminal
Court. Prior to his move to Atlanta, Roan practiced law and served as the mayor of
his town in Fairburn, Georgia. As mayor, he spent his time focusing on educational
reform. By the time Roan was 68, when he presided over Leo Franks trial, he was
already suffering from the fatigue brought about by terminal cancer. His colleagues
may remember him as a practical and painstakingly diligent lawyer, but many Leo
Frank scholars criticize him for advocating Franks innocence after he was already
lynched. Many attribute this falsehood to his quickly encroaching illness.

Frankie Epps (his name is actually George): A 15 year old newsboy and a good
friend of Mary Phagans. He served as one of Dorseys witness in his prosecution
against Leo Frank.

Magnolia Minola McKnight: Minola was the Frank familys cook. She first
began working for Lucilles parents but would later serve Leo and Lucille, too.

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Besides her affidavit that insinuated Leo, little is known about her life. She and her
husband, Albert, lived in a shack several blocks away from the Frank residence.
Historians say she was around 20 when she testified against Leo, so she was
probably born around 1893. Given her work as a family cook, it is unlikely that she
received any kind of formal education. She probably served the family her entire
life. After recanting the affidavit she gave Dorsey, she was attacked at knifepoint
and refused to discuss the case any further.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Atmosphere
By 1913, Atlantas population had nearly doubled. It wasnt quite over a half
a million, but it was on its way. It was a boom town, rapidly become the commercial
center of the South with its various mills, factories, and breweries. Atlantas city life
was quite different from its Cobb County neighbors simpler and agrarian lifestyle.

The Civil War had been over for 50 years, but the people of Atlanta
remembered it as if it were yesterday; they still called it The War or Northern
Aggression and even The Recent Unpleasantness. It was so recent because
during Reconstruction, the US Governments attempt to bring Confederate states
back into the Union felt like an extension of the Civil War. Indeed they were also still
resentful towards the North from when they burned most of Atlanta in 1864.
Furthermore, the Norths act of taxing both small farms and large plantations alike
jeopardized southerners traditional and rural lives; it forced them to move into the
city to find jobs in mills and factories. To many it was a threatening act brought
upon them by a strange and foreign force. Leo Frank was a Jew, a Yankee, a
Capitalist, and an Industrialist; all of which were characteristics of such an
encroaching presence.

Working conditions in Atlanta were less than favorable. Almost all employees
at the National Pencil Company, for example, were children and teenagers.
Employers openly ignored laws that prohibited minors from working: while child
labor laws technically were in existence since 1836, the first federal child labor law
would not have been written until 1916. According to an article in the Savannah
Morning News, children working in factories and mills were left sapped of their life-
blood...starved, stunted and all but demoralized. The wages were unbelievably low
while their hours were sky high: an average worker earned between 10 to 22 cents
an hour and worked almost 60 hours a week, except, of course, for Sundays. Their
normal working day went from 6am to 6pm with only a half hour allotted for lunch.

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 Atlantas living conditions reflected the nature of its working conditions. In
1905, Atlanta had the thirteenth highest death toll among a total of three hundred
and eighty-eight cities. Approximately one-third of Atlantas population lived without
water mains or sewers. Instead, they used well waters and surface closets. In 1914,
The United Textile Workers Union complained that many Atlanta children were
infected with pellagra -- a disease brought upon by a niacin deficiency and lacked a
cure.

Naturally, the Negro community had their own neighborhoods. One such
neighborhood was Vine City, just west of downtown Atlanta. Jim Conley was known
to live in this area, but it was also home to many newcomers, most of them jobless
and unskilled, brought nearer to the city by the prospect of making an odd dollar.
The area was hardly fit for the well-bred. The air reeked, according to historians, of
raw sewage and disappointment, and the streets were filled with garbage. Those
that dwelled in Vine City only had a life expectancy of about 35 years. The
neighborhoods main contributions to white society were gambling, weaponry, and
alcohol; the neighborhood was a host to variety of casinos, all of which were
subjected to frequent police raids. Many citizens of Vine City were eventually sent to
the Atlanta Stockade, where they were subjected to the prisons awful conditions.
An investigation by the Atlanta Georgian in 1909 revealed that the living conditions
were too awful to print: cells were infested with cockroaches and rats; prisoners
were forced to wear riveted shackles which bore into their flesh; and rowdy
prisoners were strapped into the bucking machine, a torture contraption invented
by the prisons warden.

The crime rate in Atlanta was unusually high. In 1905, more children had
been arrested for disturbing the peace and public drunkenness than any other city
in the country. Atlanta police often abused their authority and used brutal means of
enforcing it. When Atlanta faced a labor shortage, the police began arresting any
healthy man found on the street. In 1909, police reportedly beat one Negro to death
and chained a white female to the wall until she foamed at the mouth.

All these factors, apparent pathological conditions of city life, threatened

the well-being of peoples lives. This New South lifestyle threatened the traditional
and rural way of life that the South fought so hard to protect. With this in mind, the
murder of a southern girl in a factory brought about an explosion of prejudice and
frenzied aggression. As far as the public was concerned, Leo Franks involvement in
the murder of Mary Phagan was a represented the threat of northern capitalism and
perversion which defiled southern traditional values.

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April 26th, 1913 and the following day

On the morning of Saturday, April 26th, 1913, Mary readied herself for the day.
After quickly scarfing down her breakfast of leftover cabbage and wheat biscuits,
Mary put on her store-bought violet dress and fixed several bows in her hair. As she
ran out the door the catch the 11:45am English Avenue streetcar to downtown, she
carried with her a silver mesh purse, an umbrella, and her blue straw hat decorated
with red dried flowers. She wanted to look her best today because it wasnt any
other day: it was Confederate Memorial Day; a day for celebration with a parade,
fireworks, and perhaps some innocent flirting. It was even rumored that the widow
of Stonewall Jackson was to make an appearance. Before celebrating the festivities
with the rest of the city, however, Mary had to stop by the Pencil Factory, where she
was recently laid off due to a shortage of brass sheet metal, to receive her final
paycheck of $1.20. Mary never left the building alive.

At 3:17am, the local police department received a call from Newt Lee urging
them to come to the factory at once. In the basement, they found Marys body, but
it was so beaten up that they needed to call in seventeen year-old Grace Hicks to
identify the body. Hicks arrived on the scene and immediately identified the body.
The police suggested that they call Phagans parents, but Hicks said their family
was too poor to own a telephone; Hicks offered to tell Marys mother and step-father
herself. Indeed, Fannie and John were already worried about Mary because she did
not come home the night before. John reportedly searched for three hours,
assuming she had gone to the movies; he eventually resorted to use their
telephone. Fortunately, Phagans parents were spared the shock of the news thanks
to the Atlanta Constitution and reporter Britt Craig. Craig wrote a 5-page article
about the gruesome details and the familys grief.

Upon investigation, police found a horrific sight: Marys face and skull were
caked with dried blood; her tongue hung out of her mouth which was filled with
sawdust and cinder. Her body was so covered in ash and sawdust that police had to
look under her stocking to confirm that she was, in fact, white. Some of her teeth
were missing and a piece of rope cut deep into her throat. Her dress was pushed up
to the knees, which suggested to the police that Mary had been criminally
assaulted or outraged (1913 rape euphemisms). Near her head were two hand-
written documents, now infamously called the murder notes. The first note was
written on blank lined paper while the other was written on an old NPC order sheet.
(See image gallery for murder notes)

Eventually these notes would be the subject of extreme controversy. The

police viewed these notes as indicators of two alternatives. Either Mary wrote them

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prior to her death, or the killer wrote it in an attempt to place the blame on
somebody else. Detectives Starnes and Black then took over the investigation. They
found Marys hat in a nearby trash bin and bloody fingerprints on a door that
appeared to be jerry-rigged. The police also found an undisturbed pile of excrement
at the bottom of the elevator shaft; police would not realize the significance of this
until much later.1 Marys purse was nowhere to be found. The police cornered Newt,
who was then taken to the police station and violently interrogated. After three days
of nonstop interrogation, Newt was deemed innocent and released in poor mental
and physical condition.

Police also arrested three other men: former street car driver, Arthur Mullinax,
who reportedly seen with Mary on the day of her murder; John Gantt, a former NPC
book keeper, who held a torch for Mary and was found with a packed suitcase and
ready to leave town after her murder; and an unnamed Negro.

It was their first instinct to blame a Negro. Unsurprisingly, in the early-

twentieth century the Atlanta police team consisted entirely of white officers.
Newspapers and magazines like William Ralph Hearsts Atlanta Georgian and Tom
Watsons The Jeffersonian riled up peoples innate-prejudice by writing exaggerated
stories about Negros attacking women. It is therefore unsurprising that in 1910, the
Atlanta police team comprised of white officers. Fully aware of this racial prejudice
in Atlantas justice system, New York Times writer Harold Ross wrote that after
announcement of Phagans murder, the [Atlanta] police [would do] what they
always do in Georgia -- [arrest] a Negro.

Newt told police he tried to call Leo, who didnt answer. That morning, the
police rang Leo at the home he and Lucille shared with her parents. When
Detectives Black and Starnes arrived at 7am, they found his nervousness
suspicious: His voice was hoarse and trembling and nervous and excited. He looked
to me like he was pale...He seemed to be nervous in handling his collar. He could
not get his tie tied, and talked very rapid. Lucille, eager to display her Southern
hospitality, offered them coffee. However, Detective Black remembered it as Leo
who offered coffee; this made Black suspect that Leo was trying to delay their trip to
the factory. He also found it odd that Leo paid more attention to the bloody
fingerprints on the door instead of the cinders and sawdust on the floor of the crime

1 Undisturbed excrement was found at the bottom of the shaft before Leo and the police
took the elevator down to the basement and mashed it. Jim Conley claims that he helped
Leo carry Marys body to the basement via the elevator after Leo killed her near his office.
Because the elevator always touched the bottom of the shaft when it reached the basement,
the police should have tried to figure out whose waste it was. Indeed, if the elevator had not
been at the basement level, how did Marys body get there?

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scene. Some policemen that testified at the trial claimed that they found Leo to be
the most perturbed. When later confronted about his nervousness, Leo remarked:

Imagine, awakened out of my sound sleep, and run down in the cool of the
morning in an automobile driven at top speed, without any food or breakfast,
rushing into a dark passageway, coming into a darkened room, and then suddenly
an electric light flashed on, and to see the sight that was presented by that poor
little child; why, it was a sight that was enough to drive a man to distraction. Of
course I was nervous; any man would be nervous if he was a man.

Investigators noticed Franks contempt with the policemens carelessnessin not

making a complete investigation as to finger prints and other evidence before a
great throng of people were allowed to enter the place. Indeed, Franks complaints
were completely founded: although part of the back door bearing the bloody
fingerprints was sawed off for further investigation, it was lost before any
examination occurred. When the press reporters flocked in to take photos of the
crime scene, the presumed killers footprints shuffled around, making a forensic
examination impossible. Police also found bloody fingerprints on Mary Phagans coat
and though it was submitted for analysis, no examination occurred.

Despite his protests, Leo was still considered a prime suspect. In his first
testimony, Leo gave a detailed account of his workday on Saturday the 26th: he got
to the office early; met with the various department heads; dictated letters to his
stenographer; and gave a girl (presumably Mary Phagan) her wages a little after
noon. Afterwards, Leo completed some more work, left the office to meet his father-
in-law for lunch, and returned to the office after deciding not to attend a baseball
game due to inclement weather. He then returned home for a quiet dinner with his
wife before she left for the opera, and proceeded to call Newt to ensure all was well
at the factory -- something he never did before. Although the account was very
detailed, the police noticed that his description left one hour unaccounted for: he
did not provide witness who could confirm his whereabouts after he gave Mary her
pay. The police were convinced she was murdered during that hour. Although he
later had an alibi thanks to a coworker, Lemmie Quinn, the police remained
suspicious.

Leo feared for his safety and reputation. He called his assistant, Herbert
Schiff, to hire Pinkerton agents -- freelance detectives hired to help wealthy
company-owners escape legal skirmishes -- to help prove his innocence. What Leo
did not realize, however, was that one of the Pinkerton agents was good friends with
Detective Black; off the clock, the two detectives discussed the case facts. When
Leo arrived to provide the police with another statement, he learned that his hired

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detectives were now investigating the case in order to indict. Indeed, one of the
agents, Detective Scott, told his colleague that unless the Jew is convicted, the
Pinkerton Detective Agency [will] have to leave Atlanta.

The Trial

Court officials rightly assumed that due to widespread press coverage, Leos trial
would attract a large crowd. Instead of holding the trial in the Thrower Room, as was
custom, it was held in a large room on the first floor of town hall. Even in such a
large room, it was so stiflingly hot that all the windows remained open throughout
the course of the trial. As a result, almost all of Atlanta was privy to the trials
details, which should have been a good thing -- it may have given citizen of Atlanta
some cause to believe that Leo was innocent. The downside to this, though, was
that the crowd surrounding town hall was so large that many felt that the jury was
intimidated by their presence. Indeed, as the trial began, the crowd outside began
to shout, Hang that Jew or well hang you! The police did nothing to stop them.
Throughout the trial, Leo barely spoke unless spoken to. This warranted him a
nickname in the press: the silent man in the tower. One general assembly man
commented on the high energy of the trials atmosphere, remembering that

There was a thirst for the blood of Mary Phagans murderer. So intense was
this feeling that the very atmosphere in and about the courthouse was charged
with sulphurous fumes of anger. [He] was in the courthouse several times during
the trial, and the spirit, the feeling, the thought of the crowd affected [him].
Without reason, [he found himself] prejudiced against Frank. Prejudiced, not
from facts and testimony, but by popular belief and hostile feeling manifested
by the crowd.

-Dorseys prosecution was based on several arguments. He first encouraged Jim

Conley to attest that Leo used him as a murder accomplice. Conley not only claimed
that Leo dictated the murder notes to him, but he also coerced him into carrying
Marys body into the basement in exchange for $200. Despite the fact that Conley
would always add new information to his story, and sometimes changed the story
completely, his predominantly-white audience was easily swayed. This in itself is
huge: the fact that all of Atlanta believed every word of this shiftless, no-count
Negros story was nothing short of a miracle. Dorsey also strong-armed Minola
McKnight, the family cook, to testify that Frank told his wife of the murder and that
he wanted to fetch his pistol so he could kill himself. She also claimed that her
employers paid her extra to lie to the prosecution. She would later recant this
testimony, claiming that Dorsey threatened to keep her in jail until she agreed to
make a false statement.

13
 Dorsey also called upon factory workers to attest that Frank was a sexual
predator, painting him as a Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde character. Conley stated
that Leo made advances towards young boys and girls alike, inviting them into his
office for private meetings while Conley stood on guard. Friends of Mary Phagan,
namely George Epps, Grace Hicks, and Monteen Stover, testified that Mary was
afraid of Leo because he paid her special attention. One testimony stated that he
offered her a ride to Heaven in exchange for a large sum of money. Dorsey and his
witnesses took care to avoid specifics. The trials audience grew to understand that
Leo was not built like other men; because he was Jewish, Leos genitals were
supposedly deformed to the point that he could not enjoy vaginal sex and could
only find oral sex -- an act at the time considered to be more perverted than actual
penetration -- pleasurable. This was an idea widely-recognized by anti-Semites, but
Leos lawyers could not refute it as a lie propagated by bigotry.

-Rossers defense tactic was to implicate Conley as the murderer. They planned to
argue that Conleys motive for murder was greed. They suggested that Conley,
when drunk, tried to steal money from Mary, she resisted, and he killed her for it.
Other factory workers, including the head of the polishing department, all confirmed
that Conley would borrow money from his coworkers and fail to pay them back. The
defense also called upon William Mincey, an insurance agent from American Life.
Mincey claimed that on the day of the murder, he approached Conley to sell him life
insurance. Mincey said that Conley appeared nervous and mumbled when he spoke,
saying that he would be in jail soon and could not afford it. After Mincey pressed
him, Conley angrily threatened him: I have killed one today and I dont want to kill
another, he mumbled.

Rosser also tried to trip up Dorseys witnesses on technical errors. For

instance, George Epps claimed he saw the sun shining when he bid Mary goodbye,
but Rosser reminded him that the sky was overcast that day. The technique Rosser
tried to employ was simple: he would uncover those technical errors to reveal that
the whole testimony was fabricated based on those small lies.

In 1913 Georgia, the accused could not give sworn testimony and be cross-
examined; they could, however, address the court. The defenses argument rested
with Leos statement, which went on for four hours. Calm and collected, Leo
informed the jury of the strong work ethic he brought to his job. The jury waited in
anticipation to hear him mention Mary Phagan, but all he said about her was that he
barely knew her and only saw her briefly on the day she died. Leo ended his
statement with the following:

14
 The statement of the negro Conley is a tissue of lies from first to last. I know
nothing whatever of the cause of the death of Mary Phagan and Conleys
statement as to his coming up and helping me dispose of the body, or that I
had anything to do with her or do with him that day is a monstrous lie. The story
as to the women coming into the factory with me for immoral purposes is a
base lie and the few occasions that he claims to have seen me in indecent
positions with women is a lie so vile that I have no language with which to fitly
denounce it... Gentlemen, some newspapers have called me the silent man
in the tower, and I have kept my silence and my council advisedly, until the
proper place and time. The time is now; the place is here; and I have
told you the truth, the whole truth.

Leo felt confident that his address to to the court would ensure his innocence.
However, by the end of the trial the jury believed the prosecution. Rosser believed
that unveiling the true facts would convince the jury of Leos innocence, but Dorsey
felt that the best way to implicate Leo was to weave a passionate tale that pulled at
their heartstrings. He believed that a convincing story could not be refuted by fact.

The jury took only two hours and forty five minutes to agree upon a guilty
verdict. Before it was announced, on August 25th, Judge Roan suggested that Leo
and his attorneys leave the courtroom for fear that a riot would start if the jury
found him innocent. This did, however, technically denied Leo due process of the
law. Leo was sentenced to hang and Jim Conley was found guilty of accessory and
was sentenced to a year on the chain gang. As soon as the verdict was announced,
the news spread throughout the city like wildfire. As the doors to town hall flung
open, Hugh Dorsey was welcomed by his fellow citizens of Atlanta in celebration:

[The] cry of guilty took winged flight from lip to lip. It traveled like the rattle
of musketry. Then came a combined shout that rose to the sky. Hats went
into the air. Women wept and shouted by turns. As Solicitor Dorsey appeared in the
doorway of the courthouse while the crowd yelled its reception of the Frank
verdict, there came a mighty roar...The Solicitor reached no further than the
sidewalk. While mounted men rode like Cossacks through the human swarm,
three muscular men slung Mr. Dorsey on their shoulders and passed him over
the heads of the crowd across the street to his office. With hat raised and tears
coursing down his cheeks, the victor in Georgia's most noted criminal battle was
tumbled over a shrieking throng that wildly proclaimed its admiration. Few will live
to see another such demonstration.

Clemency and Commutation

15
 Several times after his conviction, Leo tried to appeal his sentence. However
each time was denied because he agreed to leave the courtroom when the verdict
was announced. Leos lawyers, however, remained optimistic. Rosser requested a
meeting with the Georgia Supreme Court, but they ruled that the Judge Roan was
the only one who could decide whether or not Leo received a fair trial. In a letter
from Roan, he admitted his doubts, but overruled the motion for a retrial. Roans
doubts may not have been enough to overturn the verdict, but they did prolong
Leos execution date several times. After this, Leo disposed of his old lawyers. He
wrote letters to members of the American Jewish Committee which explored the
holes in Dorseys case and asked them to provide him with enough legal funding to
secure new lawyers. Lucille, in turn, published letters in local papers pleading
people to help assert her husbands innocence. One philanthropist from Chicago,
Albert Lasker, neglected his own business to fund a new investigation and defense
team. His new defense team went to work on Dorseys witnesses. They obtained
affidavits from the prosecutions witnesses -- namely Epps, Stover, and Hicks -- who
all admitted that Dorsey gave them explicit instructions about what to say when
cross-examined by the defense.

Soon, Leo invited Henry Alexander -- a southerner -- into his new defense
team; Alexander closely examined the murder notes and found something
extraordinary. In his pamphlet, Some Facts About The Murder Notes, Alexander
writes that one scribbling mentions the night witch. Everyone assumed it to mean
the night watchman, but Alexander asserted that the phrase actually refers to a
night witch: an evil spirit from Negro folklore. Alexander asked the Baptist minister
of Mary Phagans church, who reported that his own servant believed in such a
spirit. When the children cry out in their sleep at night, it means that the night
witches are riding them, and if you dont....wake them up, they will be found the
next morning strangled to death, with a cord around their necks. Alexander
insisted that, given Leos cultural background, he could not possibly have known
about this. Indeed, Alexander also examined letters written by Conley to a girl
named Annie and found that the sentence structure matched the style in which the
murder notes were written.

The verdict remained undisturbed, much to the publics satisfaction. Judge

Roan still admitted his doubts, this time to an Atlanta attorney, J. J. Barge, who
agreed with him: he felt that were he were in a similar position, he would have
granted Leo a retrial. However, both men feared the wrath of Atlantas ever-rowdy
mobs. This mob spirit was fueled by Tom Watson, who congratulated Dorsey on his
success in convicting Leo. He claimed to speak on behalf of the rural and non-Jewish
people of Georgia, attacking Leo on the basis that he tried to escape the gallows
with his Jewish money: Does a Jew expect extraordinary favors and immunities

16
because of his race? he cried. Southerners who privately sympathized with Leo
feared retribution from Watsons crazed readers. They feared that they would be
accused of being bought by Jew money. Despite this fear of Atlantas hysteria, only
one individual found himself able to wade through this toxic atmosphere of frenzied
prejudice.

It was Governor John Slaton who initially saved Leo from the gallows after he
was given the death sentence. He received Leos petition for clemency before he
left office, but at first he was reluctant to get involved as he was hoping to leave
office relatively unscathed from the case. From the moment he was handed the
petition, Slaton began receiving threats. Tom Watson -- who was able to sway the
people for or against a politician with a single mention in his publications --
reminded Slaton that should he grant Leo clemency, he would give his support to
another politician. Such a threat was unwise -- Watsons reminder prompted Slaton
to reexamine the case.

On July 12, 1915, Slaton hesitantly opened hearings on Leos petition for
clemency. He examined various transcripts, legal briefs, and even revisited the
factory. During his reexamination, he considered two letters of interest. One was
written by Judge Roan, which pleaded Slaton to overturn Leos sentence. The other
letter was written by P. H. Brewster, one of Dorseys law partners, who insisted that
he believed Leo to be innocent given the facts presented in court. In the letter,
Brewster also beseeched Slaton to publish the letter in the local papers. In June
1915, Slaton produced a 29-page document about his findings.

Document in hand, Slaton agreed to commute Leos sentence to life

imprisonment. Before announcing this decision, Slaton ordered a car to take Leo to
the Milledgeville State Penitentiary. This decision almost immediately destroyed his
public image. Georgia erupted in fury. Dorsey denounced Slaton for his decision and
Tom Watson furiously wrote in his magazine, Our grand old Empire State HAS BEEN
RAPED! Perhaps even more disturbing was Watsons grotesque picture of a guilt-
stricken Slaton:

When John M. Slaton tosses on a sleepless bed, in the years to come, he will
see a vivid picture of that little Georgia girl, decoyed to the metal room by this
satyr-faced New York Jew: he will see her little hands put out, to keep off this
lustful beast: he will hear her cry of sudden terror; he will see her face purpling as
the cruel cord chokes her to death -- and John M. Slaton will walk the floor, a
wretched, conscience-smitten man, AND HE WILL SWEAT BLOOD!

17
Citizens of various southern cities, many acting in accordance with Watsons
hysterical plea for justice, hung and burned effigies of Leo and Slaton; one city in
question even wrote a sign under Slatons which said, John M. Slaton, King of the
Jews and Traitor Governor of Georgia. In Atlanta a mob of 4,000 furious citizens
marched up to the governors mansion with bricks and guns. Slaton anticipated
such a reaction and called upon the state militia to fight back the angry mob.

Rumors began spreading that 150 people in Marietta met at Mary Phagans
grave. They called themselves the Knights of Mary Phagan, they and swore to
punish both Leo and former-governor Slaton. The Marietta Vigilance Committee
began passing out notes to Jewish stores, threatening them to leave town:

You are hereby notified to close up this business and quit Marietta by
Saturday night, June 26, 1915 or else stand the consequences. We mean to
rid Marietta of all Jews by the above date. You can heed this warning or stand
the punishment the committee may see fit to deal out to you.

As a result, many Atlanta Jewish merchants organized groups to watch over their
shops and protect them from angry rioters. Jewish parents sought to protect their
families -- they encouraged their children to remain indoors for fear that they might
be attacked.

Eventually, Governor Slaton would find that the wrath of Atlantas riots was
too much to bear. During the inauguration of Slatons successor, Nathaniel Harris, a
citizen attacked the former governor with a lead pipe. Despite his final speech to
the people of Atlanta, which begged them to see reason, Slaton and his wife
eventually left Georgia. When he eventually returned to Atlanta, he never again
sought a position in public office.

Milledgeville State Penitentiary & Lynching

Leo arrived to the prison farm in Milledgeville emotionally scarred and in

horrible physical condition. He contracted a cold during his transfer to the prison
farm and showed signs of a nervous breakdown. He spent his first days in and out of
the prison hospital under a physicians care. However, Leos new surroundings
would surely provide an environment where he could mentally and physically
recover.

Leo would later write to his wife, claiming to feel healthier than ever. He
settled into a routine of work and exercise, a definite improvement from his time on
death row. Friends and family tried to make his stay there more comfortable by
sending him stamps, audio recordings, and even a gramophone. Leo felt confident

18
about the commutation of his sentence, believing it to be a viable stepping stone to
his freedom. Leos relationship with his wife also became less strained -- she paid
him frequent visits, although the two were always accompanied by a guard, but the
couple grew closer than ever. When she wasnt visiting, Leo wrote her constantly
he once wrote that [her] presence was a tonic and an inspiration.

Within a month of his transfer, Leos healthy routine took a turn for the worse.
While he was sleeping, a fellow inmate, William Creen, snuck into his cell and
slashed his throat with a butchers knife. Creen felt that Leo posed a danger to the
other inmates, fearing that his presence in the prison would prompt a mob riot. He
also believed that killing Leo would earn him his freedom. Doctors rushed to Leos
cell to find a cut that went from the bottom of his left ear to the other side of his
Adams apple, slashing open Leos jugular vein -- unless the doctors acted fast, Leo
would surely die. They eventually sewed up Leos wounds without anesthesia.
Naturally, Tom Watson was the attacks loudest celebrator: he viciously taunted Leo,
claiming that the knife was last used to kill a hog. He relished in the fact that this
near-death experience was brought about by an instrument used to cut an animal
that an observant Jew could not eat. For the next few months, Leo had to wear a
neck brace, but remained as optimistic as ever. Lucille never left his side and would
eventually take over the duties of the day nurse.

One month after Franks near-death experience, a group of 25 men stormed

the prison farm. 5 attended to the warden, while several incapacitated the prison
superintendent. The mob then incapacitated the 2 guards, took Leo into a car, and
embarked on a 7 hour drive to Marietta. Leos abduction took all of 5 minutes.
Instead of taking him to Marys childhood farm, they took him to a place called
Freys Gin, where an oak tree, a table, and manila rope awaited him.

Despite the aggression of his assailants, Leo remained remarkably calm. He

answered their questions but never confessed to Marys murder. When the lynchers
asked him if he had anything else to say, Leo said I think more of my wife and my
mother than I do of my own life. He then requested that they give Lucille his
wedding ring and a note scribbled in either Yiddish or German; no one knows the
content of that note. Soon thereafter, the manila rope was tied into a hangmans
knot around Leos throat and the table was kicked out from under him. Many
lynchers fled the scene, leaving him for dead. Leos neck did not break upon impact;
instead, he struggled for a few minutes until the wound in his throat reopened. He
died from a combination of suffocation and blood loss.

What followed was a disgusting display of human contempt. Soon a throng of

three thousand people swarmed in to view the body. According to Elaine Marie

19
Alphin, the atmosphere was somewhere between celebration, vindication, and
religious rapture. Many people arrived with cameras, eager for photographs and
souvenirs. The assailants that remained posed next to Leos body; by the very next
day, those photographs would be made into postcards and sold alongside pieces of
the hangmans rope and pieces of Leos shirtsleeves. The demand for these photos
were so high that vendors were soon required to carry a city license. The body hung
for about 7 hours before it was taken down by rioters who wished to desecrate it.
Some even wished to cut up Leos body and burn it. However, several bystanders
managed to take the body and return it to Atlanta so it could receive a proper
funeral.

Aftermath

While Tom Watson and countless others praised the lynching, others
responded in violent uproar. At a Confederate veteran conference, Nat Harris
expressed shock and grief at the lynching he vowed to, with the help of
surrounding states, track down the members of the mob and put them to justice.
Various newspapers denounced the state of Georgia. The Richmond Times-Dispatch
wrote that the lynching constitutes the most vicious stuck at organized
government in a century, and the South, in particular, must suffer. Even Atlantas
own Atlanta Constitution -- which was resolutely silent when it came to Leo Frank --
wrote that no word in the language is too strong to apply to the deliberate and
carefully conspired deed...

Prejudice still hung in the air like a toxin. In addition to the reinstatement of
the Ku Klux Klan on a mountaintop near Atlanta, where Tom Watson and some
members of the Knights of Mary Phagan joined them, the hostility towards Jews
perpetuated long after Leos death. Many people still resented the power of money.
One Atlanta news reporter suggested that if Jews had simply regarded Leo as a
murderer in the first place and let him face his due punishment, anti-Semitism
would not have lingered in Atlanta for so long.

After the lynching, almost half of Atlantas Jewish population -- about 1,500
people --left Atlanta. Many Southern Jews began to question their own heritage --
some became anti-Zionist while others converted. The Temple stopped using chupas
in weddings, as well as anything else that could attract unnecessary attention.
Other Jews took immediate action -- the Bnai Brith established the Anti-Defamation
League, which sought to combat prejudice in the United States. There were many
plans to organize the League before, but Atlantas hostility towards Leo was the
catalyst for the organizations inception. The League still exists today.

20
70 years after Leos death, his former office boy, Alonzo Mann, stepped forward with
some interesting news. He reported to have seen Jim Conley alone and carrying
Marys body, who threatened to kill him if he mentioned it to anyone. He passed a
polygraph test and proceeded to die at the age of 85. While Manns testimony was
the catalyst for Leos pardon, it was not enough to settle it: Conley presumably died
in 1962 and all of the case files were lost. As a result, modern forensic analysis was
not possible. The first request for Leos posthumous pardon was denied in 1983.
Leos supporters tried again in 1986, this time requesting the State of Georgia to
recognize their guilt in Leos wrongful lynching. The board granted his posthumous
pardon on March 11, 1986 in an effort to heal old wounds.

--

Alexander, Henry A. Some Facts about the Murder Notes in the Phagan Case. N.p.: n.p., 19--. Print.

Alphin, Elaine Marie. An Unspeakable Crime: The Prosecution and Persecution of Leo Frank.
Minneapolis: Carolrhoda, 2010. Print.

Dinnerstein, Leonard. The Leo Frank Case. Athens [u.a.: Univ. of Georgia, 2008. Print.

Dittmer, John. Black Georgia in the Progressive Era, 1900-1920. Urbana: University of Illinois, 1977.
Print.

"Information on the 1913 Budgeoning, Rape, Strangulation and Mutilation of Mary Phagan and the
Subsequent Trial, Appeals and Mob Lynching of Leo Frank in 1915." The 1913 Leo Frank Case
and Trial Research Library RSS. Leo Frank Research Library, n.d. Web. 5 Sept. 2013.

Oney, Steve. And The Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank. New
York: Pantheon, 2004. Print.

Phagan Kean, Mary. The Murder of Little Mary Phagan. Far Hills, NJ: New Horizon, 1987. Print.

Pou, Charles. "Leo Frank Page." Leo Frank Page. Georgia Info, n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2013.

"The Leo Frank Trial (1913)." The Leo Frank Trial (1913). UMKC School of Law, 2008. Web. 3 Sept.
2013.

"The New South and Leo Frank, Image 1." The New South and Leo Frank, Image 1. GBP Media, n.d.
Web. 2 Sept. 2013.

21
The Ballad of Mary Phagan

This ballad, written by Franklyn Bliss Snyder, was sung at rallies in support of
carrying out Leos execution. "Fiddling John" Carson played this song at
demonstrations in 1915:

Little Mary Phagan

She left her home one day;
She went to the pencil-factory
To see the big parade.

She left her home at eleven,

She kissed her mother good-by;
Not one time did the poor child think
That she was a-going to die.

Leo Frank he met her

With a brutish heart, we know;
He smiled, and said, "Little Mary,
You won't go home no more."

Sneaked along behind her

Till she reached the metal-room;
He laughed, and said, "Little Mary,
You have met your fatal doom."

Down upon her knees

To Leo Frank she plead;
He taken a stick from the trash-pile
And struck her across the head.

Tears flow down her rosy cheeks

While the blood flows down her back;
Remembered telling her mother
What time she would be back.

You killed little Mary Phagan,

It was on one holiday;
Called for old Jim Conley
To carry her body away.

He taken her to the basement,

22
She was bound both hand and feet;
Down in the basement
Little Mary she did sleep.

Newtley was the watchman

Who went to wind his key;
Down in the basement
Little Mary he did see.

Went in and called the officers

Whose names I do not know;
Come to the pencil-factory,
Said, "Newtley, you must go."

Taken him to the jail-house,

They locked him in a cell;
Poor old innocent negro
Knew nothing for to tell.

Have a notion in my head,

When Frank he comes to die,
Stand examination
In a court-house in the sky.

Come, all you jolly people,

Wherever you may be,
Suppose little Mary Phagan
Belonged to you or me.

Now little Mary's mother

She weeps and mourns all day,
Praying to meet little Mary
In a better world some day.

Now little Mary's in Heaven,

Leo Frank's in jail,
Waiting for the day to come
When he can tell his tale.

Frank will be astonished

When the angels come to say,

23
 "You killed little Mary Phagan;
It was on one holiday."

Judge he passed the sentence,

Then he reared back;
If he hang Leo Frank,
It won't bring little Mary back.

Frank he's got little children,

And they will want for bread;
Look up at their papa's picture,
Say, "Now my papa's dead."

Judge he passed the sentence

He reared back in his chair;
He will hang Leo Frank,
And give the negro a year.

Next time he passed the sentence,

You bet, he passed it well;
Well, Solister H. M.
Sent Leo Frank to hell.

24
IMAGE GALLERY

Leo Frank, 2 years after Marys

death
(R) Lucille Selig, ca. 1909

Leo and Lucille Frank, ca. 1909

25
Leo and Lucilles marriage
certificate, dated November
1910

Mary Phagan, a few

months before her death

26
Image of the evidence
from the front page of the
Atlanta Georgian

The Murder Notes

Note 1 (L): mam that negro hire down

here did this i went to make water and he
push me down that hole a long tall negro
black that hoo it wase long sleam tall
negro i wright while play with me

Note 2 (A): he said he wood love me land

down play like the night witch did it but
that long black negro did boy his slef
27
Marys Funeral; pictured: her
sister, Ollie Mae; her mother,
Fannie; and step-father, J.W.
Coleman.

Marys grave -- the

epitaph of which was
written by Tom Watson

28
The Natl Pencil Factory,
ca. 1913

See image description

29
 See image
description

Jim Conley

30
Prosecuting attorney Hugh M. Dorsey

Defense attorney Luther Z. Rosser

31
Judge Leonard S. Roan

Court in session

32
Dorsey addressing Jim Conley, courtesy
of The Atlanta Georgian, 1913

Leo, during the trial, with his wife

33
 Ladies present at the trial,
probably from The Atlanta
Georgian

Tom Watson

34
Postcard: Governor John Slaton
and First Lady Sally Grant Slaton

Postcard: First lady, Sally Grant

Slaton

35
Effigy of Slaton in Marietta

Milledgeville State
Penitentiary

36
Post lynching

Post lynching

37
Celebration after Leos
lynching

38