Klan Mob Kills Innocent Jewish Man

Leo Frank stayed in prison for two years. He felt he would get out. Governor Slaton...Leo Frank believed he was innocent.He recommended the next governor grant him a full pardon. Frank ignored protestors burning Slaton in effigy, including a dummy hanged with the sign, "John M. Slaton, King of the Jews and Georgia's Traitor Forever."

On August 17, 1915, a mob attacked the prison where Frank was held. The mob included...a former governor, a respected judge, and state legislators. Clergymen and an ex-sheriff joined the mob. The mob overpowered the guards, took Frank, and drove him 150 miles to Marietta, Georgia, Mary Phagan's hometown. During the drive, the men tried to force Frank to confess. Frank swore he was innocent, making some question if they erred. Others pushed forward with the plan to lynch Leo Frank.The mob included a former governor, a respected judge, state legislators, clergymen, and an ex-sheriff. The mob overpowered the guards and seized Frank, driving him 150 miles to Marietta, Georgia, Mary Phagan's hometown. The men tried to force Frank to confess during the drive. Frank swore his innocence, causing some to question if they made a mistake. Others pressed on with the plot to lynch Leo Frank.

With a manhunt already underway to find Leo Frank, the mob put a rope around his neck.The mob began a manhunt to find Leo Frank.The mob placed a rope around Leo Frank's neck. They led Frank to a large oak tree. Just before they killed him, the mob gave Frank a chance to speak. Frank took off his wedding ring and asked someone to return it to his wife.

The mob lifted Frank on a table under the tree with the rope secure. They kicked the table out from under Frank's feet. The drop did not kill him. Leo Frank's death was...slow and agonizing, because the drop did not kill him quickly.The death was slow and agonizing, as the drop had not been long enough.

After word spread Frank was lynched, hundreds went to Marietta to see his body. People tore pieces of his shirt for souvenirs. Two days later, an unidentified man...returned Frank's wedding ring to his wife.The unidentified man returned Frank's wedding ring to his wife.

The men who lynched Leo Frank were prominent, powerful Georgians. None of them stood trial for the murder.None of the men who lynched Leo Frank stood trial.A month after lynching Leo Frank, many murderers carried out more lynchings. Tom Watson egged them on.Tom Watson egged the murderers on.They decided to revive the Ku Klux Klan.

On November 23, 1915, thirty men, some who had lynched Leo Frank, gathered at Stone Mountain's peak. They lit a huge cross. The burning cross showed for miles, a signal that the KKK returned.The Second Ku Klux Klan promoted white supremacy during the 1920s. It grew to five million members by 1925. The KKK terrorized Black populations. It also targeted Jews, Catholics, Mexicans, Asians, and other non-white immigrants.The Second Ku Klux Klan promoted white supremacy throughout the 1920s. It grew to five million members by 1925. The KKK targeted Jews, Catholics, Mexicans, Asians, and other non-white immigrants, besides terrorizing Black populations.

In 1925, over 50,000 KKK members paraded through Washington, D.C., faces unmasked. Some members carried a picture of Leo Frank's lynching—it became...a postcard after his death.The picture of Leo Frank's lynching turned into a postcard after his death.

Tom WatsonTom Watson ran for vice presidential candidate with William Jennings Bryan in 1896, uniting Midwestern farmers and Southern workers under a populist banner. By the early twentieth century, Watson argued Black people should be disenfranchised and that Catholics and Jews were dangerous to America.

Watson owned a popular paper that tripled its circulation during the Frank trial.Watson owned a popular paper that tripled its circulation during the Frank trial.Watson's paper portrayed Leo Frank as a greedy, lecherous Jew. He supposedly preyed on young white girls using his "unlimited money and invisible power," according to the paper. When Frank's sentence moved to life in prison, Watson called for Frank to be lynched.Watson's paper portrayed Leo Frank as a greedy, lecherous Jew. He supposedly preyed on young white girls using his "unlimited money and invisible power," according to the paper. When Frank's sentence moved to life in prison, Watson called for Frank to be lynched.Leo Frank was portrayed as a greedy, lecherous Jew by Watson's paper. The paper claimed he used "unlimited money and invisible power" to prey on young white girls. After Frank's sentence became life in prison, Watson called for his lynching.Watson called for Frank to be lynched."Lynch law is a good sign," Watson wrote. "It shows that a sense of justice yet lives among the people."

On August 17, 1915, a group of white men acted on Watson's call. Four years later, many of those same men elected Watson as Georgia's senator.

Mary Phagan was thirteen when men brutally raped and murdered her.Men brutally raped and murdered Mary Phagan.Mary Phagan died in an Atlanta pencil factory. Discovery of Mary's horrific death on April 27, 1913, shocked Georgia and became national news.

Mary dropped out of school and worked in a factory to support her family. Mary worked in factories since age ten, first at a textile mill, then at a paper manufacturing plant. At the pencil factory, Mary attached erasers to pencils daily. She earned ten cents an hour, and most weeks she worked 55 hours.Mary worked 55 hours.The victim was a 13-year-old child laborer.

On April 26, 1913, Mary went to the factory for her $1.20 paycheck. Before she could leave for a parade with friends, she was strangled to death.

Within days of Mary's death, police focused on five potential suspects.Police narrowed the suspects to five potential individuals.The suspects included two Black men who worked at the factory named Newt Lee.Two Black men who worked at the factory named Newt Lee.Newt Lee and Jim Conley, a sweeper, found Mary's body and identified her.

Police arrested Leo Frank on April 29.Police arrested Leo Frank, the Jewish owner of the factory. Frank grew up in Brooklyn and graduated from Cornell.Police suspected Leo Frank immediately. Antisemitism drove his trial, the Jewish owner of the factory. Frank was raised in Brooklyn.Leo Frank graduated from Cornell.Leo Frank graduated from Cornell. He moved to Georgia and married in 1910. By 1913, he worked as the superintendent of a pencil factory. Frank celebrated his 29th birthday the week before Mary Phagan was murdered.

Antisemitism affected Frank's trial from the start. One juror said something.One juror said, "I am glad they indicted the goddamn Jew. They ought to take him out and lynch him. And if I get on that jury, I'll hang that Jew for sure."One juror said, "I am glad they indicted the goddamn Jew. They ought to take him out and lynch him. And if I get on that jury, I'll hang that Jew for sure."

Leo Frank's trial became a media sensation. The courthouse filled every day as witnesses recounted their interactions with Frank. Women testified that Frank was a pervert.Women testified Frank was a pervert.The prosecutor implied Frank was a pedophile and a homosexual. He asked a boy who worked in the office if Frank had made sexual advances toward him. He asked another witness if she ever saw Frank in the park with young girls on his lap.The prosecutor implied Frank was a pedophile and a homosexual. He asked a boy who worked in the office if Frank had made sexual advances toward him.He asked another witness if she ever saw Frank in the park with young girls on his lap.

Newspapers ran sensational headlines about the trial. The case captured the city, and drawings of Mary Phagan appeared everywhere. One paper called her the essence of "youth and innocence," with "not the tiniest speck of wrongdoing upon her white hands." At least one paper suggested a murderous Jew killed her.

The prosecution's case relied on Jim Conley, a Black sweeper at the factory, as a star witness. Conley claimed Frank plotted to rape Mary.Conley claimed Frank plotted to rape Mary when she picked up her paycheck.Conley was supposed to be the lookout.Conley's testimony stated this."Mr. Frank said, 'When I stomp, that's her, and you go shut the door. And when I whistle, you can go and unlock the door.'"

After Mary went to the office, Conley testified he heard screams. When Frank emerged, he stood at the stairs, shivering, rubbing his hands, and acting strange. Conley said Frank confessed, claiming his boss said, "I wanted to be with the little girl, and she refused me, and I struck her... I guess I struck her too hard, and she fell and hit her head against something... I don’t know how she got hurt. Of course you know I ain’t built like other men."

Conley then described how he and Frank hid Mary's body in the factory basement and wrote notes next to the corpse.

Investigators found two notes next to Mary Phagan's body. The police were confused by them. A Georgia newspaper headline read "Strange Notes Increase Mystery."The headline read "Strange Notes Increase Mystery."One note said "Strange Notes Increase Mystery."One of the notes said this:"Dear mother, a long, tall black negro did this boy himself. He told me if I would lay down, he would love me. Play like the night witch did this boy himself."

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Police thought the killer wrote the note, suspecting Newt Lee, the night watchman, perhaps the "night witch." Jim Conley soon explained thathehad written the notes.He claimed Leo Frank paid him to do it.

Leo Frank's defense wascompletely racist.He argued the real murderer was Jim Conley. His lawyers used troubling language to sway the Georgian jury. Reuben Arnold, defense attorney, said Conley was "a drunken, crazed negro, hard up for money." Luther Rosser, Frank's other lawyer, said, "Conley is a plain, beastly, drunken, filthy, lying n****r with a spreading nose through which tons of cocaine have probably been sniffed."

Racism was not the only argument in the trial. The prosecution argued Conley was too stupid to make up his story because he was Black. The jury sided with the prosecution. Leo Frank was found guilty and sentenced to death.The prosecution argued Conley was too stupid.He was Black, so he could not make up his story. The jury agreed with the prosecution. Leo Frank received a death sentence.

Leo Frank immediately appealed his conviction. New evidence weakened the prosecution's case.This new evidence included multiple witnesses who admitted they lied during his trial. A woman who claimed Frank called looking for a room for a "romantic liaison" said detectives told her to lie. A young factory worker claimed investigators told him to say Mary feared Frank's advances. Evidence of hair in Frank's office proved it came from a different woman.A woman who claimed Frank called looking for a room for a "romantic liaison" said detectives told her to lie. A young factory worker said investigators told him to say Mary was afraid of Frank's sexual advances. Hair in Frank's office showed it was not from Mary Phagan, but from another woman.

After the governor of Georgia, John Slaton, reviewed the case.John Slaton reviewed the case.He decided to commute Frank's sentence to life in prison. Slaton said, "I would be a murderer if I allowed that man to hang." A mob soonThe mob surrounded Slaton's home.The mob cried out, "Lynch him!"

Leo Frank was innocent. He was lynched because he was Jewish.

In 1982, Alonzo Mann, an office boy at the pencil factory, came forward. He said he hadseen Jim Conley.Conley's lawyer said Conley was carrying Mary Phagan's dead body.Conley's lawyer said Frank was guilty.Leo Frank was innocent. Georgia pardoned Frank in 1986 because the state failed to protect him from the mob.

But today,white supremacists still insiston Frank's guilt despite overwhelming evidence. Neo-Nazis run websites claiming Frank is guilty. They use Frank as a tool for white supremacy, ignoring history and continuing the injustice that killed Leo Frank.