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N0KFQ > TODAY 26.04.08 04:23l 61 Lines 2728 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Apr 26
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Sent: 080425/1610Z @:N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA #:17468 [Branson] FBB7.00i $:17468_N
From: N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
To : TODAY@ALLUS
April 26, 1913
Girl murdered in pencil factory
Thirteen-year-old Mary Phagan is found sexually molested and
murdered in the basement of the Atlanta, Georgia, pencil factory
where she worked. Her murder later led to one of the most
disgraceful episodes of bigotry, injustice, and mob violence in
American history.
Next to Phagan's body were two small notes that purported to pin
the crime on Newt Lee, the night watchman at the factory. Lee was
arrested, but it quickly became evident that the notes were a
crude attempt by the barely literate Jim Conley to cover up his
own involvement. Conley was the factory's janitor, a black man,
and a well-known drunk.
Conley then decided to shift the blame toward Leo Frank, the
Jewish owner of the factory. Despite the absurdity of Conley's
claims, they nevertheless took hold. The case's prosecutor was
Hugh Dorsey, a notorious bigot and friend of Georgia's populist
leader, Tom Watson. Reportedly, Watson told Dorsey, "Hell, we can
lynch a nigger anytime in Georgia, but when do we get the chance
to hang a Yankee Jew?"
Frank was tried by Judge Leonard Roan, who allowed the blatantly
unfair trial to go forward even after he was privately informed
by Conley's attorney that Conley had admitted to Frank's
innocence on more than one occasion. The trial was packed with
Watson's followers and readers of his racist newspaper,
Jeffersonian. The jury was terrorized into a conviction despite
the complete lack of evidence against Frank.
Georgia governor John Slaton initiated his own investigation and
quickly concluded that Frank was completely innocent. Three weeks
before his term ended, Slaton commuted Frank's death sentence in
the hope that he would eventually be freed when the publicity
died down. However, Watson had other plans: He mobilized his
supporters to form the Knights of Mary Phagan. Thousands of
Jewish residents in Atlanta were forced to flee the city because
police refused to stop the lynch mob.
The Knights of Mary Phagan then made their way to the prison farm
where Frank was incarcerated. They handcuffed the warden and the
guards and abducted Frank, bringing him to Marietta, Phagan's
hometown. There he was hanged to death from a giant oak tree.
Thousands of spectators came to watch and have their picture
taken in front of his lifeless body. The police did nothing to
stop the spectacle.
Although most of the country was outraged and horrified by the
lynching, Watson remained very popular in Georgia. In fact, he
was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1920.
Frank did not receive a posthumous pardon until 1986, on the
grounds that his lynching deprived him of his right to appeal his
conviction.
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