Hooper’s Testimony Weakens Later Waiver Controversy , The Atlanta Constitution, April 18, 1914 A statement published in the Atlanta Constitution by former prosecutor Frank Arthur Hooper revisited a procedural issue from the 1913 Leo Frank trial that later became a point of intense disagreement during post-trial arguments in 1914. His remarks focused on what had been understood at the time, eight months prior, regarding Frank’s presence when the verdict was returned on August 25, 1913, and whether a proper personal waiver had been secured. Hooper Pushes Back on Waiver Claim Hooper explained that during the murder trial of Leo Frank, he raised a concern directly with Judge Roan about whether the defendant himself needed to personally waive his right to be present, rather than relying solely on agreement from counsel. He emphasized that this was not an afterthought, but something he brought up in real time while proceedings were still underway. According to Hooper, the judge responded in …More
The Governor’s Gamble: How Slaton’s Decision for Clemency Sparked Turmoil in 1915 In 1915, Georgia Governor John M. Slaton shocked the state when he commuted Leo Frank’s death sentence, placing himself at the center of one of the most explosive legal controversies in American history. Frank, a Jewish factory superintendent in Atlanta, had been convicted in the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan, and the case had already become a national obsession, driven by intense public anger, sensational reporting, and deep social prejudice. Slaton’s decision was especially controversial because of his personal connection to Frank’s defense. Before becoming governor, he had been a partner in the law firm Rosser, Brandon, Slaton & Phillips, which had represented Frank during the trial and appeals. Although he accepted the jury’s verdict, Slaton personally reviewed the record and concluded that the evidence did not justify an execution. On June 21, 1915, just one day before Frank was scheduled to …More
Marietta's Shadow: Temple Kol Emeth's Frank Whitewash The 2015 Temple Kol Emeth memorial for Leo Frank functioned less as a neutral remembrance than as a carefully framed advocacy event. Held on August 16, 2015, just one day before the centennial of Frank’s lynching, the program was directed by Rabbi Steven Lebow and later edited into a short video that presented Frank in strongly exculpatory terms. Rather than offering a full historical account, it centered almost entirely on the goal of rehabilitation and public vindication. What made the presentation especially one-sided was its complete omission of the trial evidence, the appellate record, and the multiple judicial rulings that upheld Frank’s conviction. It also gave little or no meaningful attention to Mary Phagan, the thirteen-year-old victim whose murder lay at the heart of the case. By leaving out the factual and legal framework of the trial, the memorial did not invite serious historical examination; instead, it encouraged …More
Mob Justice: The Trial That Shook the South Scandal Then and Now: Southern Knights (1999) is a Canadian television documentary that revisits the Leo Frank case from a distinctly pro-Frank perspective. Produced by Jewish-Canadian filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici and directed by Yuval Daniel, the episode was partly funded by the Canadian government and broadcast on public television. At about 47 minutes, it presents itself as a historical documentary, but its framing is openly shaped by the innocence narrative long advanced by Frank’s defenders. The film follows a familiar script: Leo Frank is portrayed as an innocent Jewish factory superintendent, falsely condemned in a prejudiced South, while his defenders argue that anti-Semitism and mob pressure overwhelmed the legal process. That interpretation has been repeated for decades, but it remains contested because it downplays or omits evidence that supported the conviction and minimizes the strength of the trial record. One of the documentary’s …More
The Forgotten History of Mary Phagan: An Interview With Her Namesake On the table before you are the remnants of another era: newspapers browned with age, pages filled with handwritten testimony, black-and-white photographs that seem to hold the gaze a little too long. In the middle of it all sits Mary Fagan, a woman who has spent much of her life gathering, protecting, and questioning the records that time nearly erased. She is not just a keeper of family history, but a custodian of a story that has echoed across generations. Mary is the great-niece and namesake of thirteen-year-old Mary Phagan, the young girl whose murder in 1913 Atlanta became one of the most infamous cases in American history. What began as the death of a factory worker child quickly grew into something much larger: a sensational trial, a city divided, a nation gripped by headlines, and a legacy that would stretch far beyond the courtroom. The case of Leo Frank would become a flashpoint for prejudice, public outrage …More
Pardon by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, March 11, 1986 On April 26, 1913, thirteen-year-old Mary Phagan was found murdered in the Atlanta pencil factory where she worked. The shocking crime deeply unsettled Georgia. Suspicion quickly fell on Leo M. Frank, the factory’s superintendent, who was soon arrested and charged with her murder. The media of the time fed on the tragedy, reporting every detail of the case with emotional and exaggerated language. Public outrage grew intense, and when Frank went on trial, crowds packed the courtroom and surrounded the courthouse. Because of the tension and threats to his safety, Frank was kept in jail throughout the proceedings. On August 25, 1913, after a sensational trial, he was convicted and sentenced to death. Frank’s lawyers appealed, but when all legal options seemed exhausted, the case reached Governor John M. Slaton. Despite fierce public pressure to uphold the sentence—and amid widespread antisemitic and anti-Northern sentiment …More
Pardon by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, March 11, 1986 On April 26, 1913, thirteen-year-old Mary Phagan was found murdered in the Atlanta pencil factory where she worked. The shocking crime deeply unsettled Georgia. Suspicion quickly fell on Leo M. Frank, the factory’s superintendent, who was soon arrested and charged with her murder. The media of the time fed on the tragedy, reporting every detail of the case with emotional and exaggerated language. Public outrage grew intense, and when Frank went on trial, crowds packed the courtroom and surrounded the courthouse. Because of the tension and threats to his safety, Frank was kept in jail throughout the proceedings. On August 25, 1913, after a sensational trial, he was convicted and sentenced to death. Frank’s lawyers appealed, but when all legal options seemed exhausted, the case reached Governor John M. Slaton. Despite fierce public pressure to uphold the sentence—and amid widespread antisemitic and anti-Northern sentiment …More
Georgia Parole Board Denies Leo Frank Exoneration, 1983 STATE OF GEORGIA STATE BOARD OF PARDONS AND PAROLES FIFTH FLOOR, EAST TOWER FLOYD VETERANS MEMORIAL BUILDING 2 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DRIVE, S.E. ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30334 BOARD MEMBERS Mobley Howell, Chairman Mrs. Mamie B. Reese, Member James T. Morris, Member Michael H. Wing, Member Wayne Snow, Jr., Member DECISION ON THE APPLICATION FOR A POSTHUMOUS PARDON FOR LEO M. FRANK On August 25, 1913, Leo M. Frank was convicted in the Superior Court of Fulton County for the murder of Mary Phagan and sentenced to death by hanging. His conviction was appealed through both state and federal courts but upheld at every level. Governor John M. Slaton, recognizing significant doubts about the case, commuted Frank’s sentence to life imprisonment on June 21, 1915. Less than two months later, on August 17, 1915, a mob forcibly removed Frank from the state prison in Milledgeville, transported him to Cobb County, and lynched him. On January 4, 1983,…More
DR WM OWENS, Sworn In For The Defendant, 102nd To Testify DR. WM. OWENS, sworn for the Defendant. I am a physician. I am also engaged in the real estate business. At the request of the defense I went through certain experiments in the pencil factory to ascertain how long it would take to go through Jim Conley's movements relative to moving the body of Mary Phagan. I kept the time while the other men were going through with the performance. I followed them and kept the time. Mr. Wilson of the Atlanta Baggage Co. also kept time with me. Mr. Brent and Mr. Fleming enacted the performance. The performance enacted was as follows: "12:56 o'clock, Conley goes to cotton box from elevator stairs, gets a piece of cloth, takes cloth back to where body lay and ties it just like a person that was going to give out clothes on Monday, ties each corner, draws it in and ties it, ties the four corners together, and runs right arm through cloth, went to put it up on his shoulder and found he couldn't get …More
Leo Frank and the 1913 Mary Phagan Murder: A True Crime History The Murder of Little Mary Phagan” by Mary Phagan-Kean (Newly Revised 2025 Edition) website:Little Mary Phagan, Leo Frank, Jim Conley, 1913 … This newly revised 2025 book delivers a family-centered view of one of America's most divisive criminal cases. Authored by Mary Phagan-Kean, great-niece of the victim, it explores the 1913 murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan in Atlanta, Georgia, and the trial of Leo Frank, who was found guilty. Released originally in 1987, the newly revised 2025 edition shares the Phagan family's take on events from over a century prior. It draws from family recollections, oral accounts, and the author's investigations. The narrative maintains Frank's guilt and contests claims of his innocence. Key Context The Leo Frank case stands as one of the nation's most contentious legal matters. Frank's 1913 conviction came amid heavy public scrutiny and antisemitic tensions; he was lynched in 1915 after his …More
HARRY DENHAM, Sworn In For The Defendant, 48th To Testify HARRY DENHAM, sworn for the Defendant. I work on the fourth floor of the pencil factory. I was paid off Friday, April 25th. I came back Saturday to do some work. Mr. Darley asked me to come back. I had to work on the machinery when it was not running. That was the only time I could do it. I got there about 7:30. Mr. Holloway was there when I got there. Between 12 and 1 o'clock I was working on the varnish machine. We were hammering. We worked until ten minutes after 3. We began to take an old partition out and put in a new one about 12 o'clock. It took a good deal of hammering; we were making a racket up there. May Barrett was the first person to come upstairs that day. She came about quarter past eleven. Stayed about three-quarters of an hour. It was after twelve when she left. Mrs. Freeman and Miss Hall were the next to come upstairs and stayed about fifteen minutes. They got a coat and went down. Mrs. White came upstairs about …More
MISS EULA MAY FLOWERS, Sworn In For The Defendant, 44th To Testify MISS EULA MAY FLOWERS, sworn for the Defendant. I did not work at the factory on Saturday, April 26th. I worked there Friday, the 25th, in the packing department. Mr. Schiff got from me the data for the financial sheet on Friday night at ten minutes to six. It was the production for the entire week from my department. It covers all the different classes of work where the goods were finished. CROSS EXAMINATION. I always turn those reports in Friday night or early Saturday morning. They don't touch Friday's work.
MRS EMMA CLARKE FREEMAN, Sworn In For The Defendant, 43rd To Testify MRS. EMMA CLARKE FREEMAN, sworn for the Defendant. I married on April 25th. I worked at the pencil factory before that, at the time I was married. I was paid off on April 25th by Mr. Schiff. On the 26th I reached the factory with Miss Hall about 25 minutes to 12. I saw Mr. Frank at his office. He was talking to two men when we went in. Mrs. White and Mr. Frank's stenographer were also in the office. Mr. Frank gave us permission to go up on the fourth floor to get my coat. While we were going up the steps Mr. Frank called to me to tell Mr. White that Mrs. White wanted him. We went on up, I got my coat and came down, and asked permission of Mr. Frank to use telephone in his office. I used the telephone. I spoke to Mrs. White a few minutes and then we left, which was about a quarter to twelve. I remember looking at the clock. When we left, there was in the building, May Barrett, the stenographer, May Barrett's daughter, …More
MISS HATTIE HALL, Sworn In For The Defendant, 41st To Testify MISS HATTIE HALL, sworn for the defendant. I am a stenographer for the National Pencil Company. I do most of the work in the office of Montag Bros. Whenever it is necessary I go down to the National Pencil factory and do work there. I saw Mr. Frank about ten o'clock of the morning of April 26th, at Montag Bros., when he came over there that morning. He came in Mr. Sig Montag's office, where I was taking dictation and I told him that I didn't know whether I would be able to go over there that morning or not, as Mr. Montag was giving me letters and Mr. Frank said: "Well, come if you possibly can." He had previously asked me over the telephone to come over to the factory. That was about half an hour before he came over to Montag Bros. I had called him up to get a duplicate bill of lading and in the course of the conversation, I asked him if he would need me over there that morning, on account of his having an inexperienced …More
W T HOLLIS, Sworn In For The Defendant, 37th To Testify W. T. HOLLIS, sworn for the Defendant. I am a street car conductor. On the 26th of April I was on the English Avenue line. We ran on schedule that day. Mary Phagan got on at Lindsey Street at about 11:50. She is the same girl I identified at the undertakers. She had been on my car frequently and I knew her well. No one else got on with her at Lindsey Street. Epps did not get on with her. I took up her fare on English Avenue, several blocks from where she got on. And no one was sitting with her then. I do not recollect Epps getting on the car at all that morning. Don't know whether anybody else afterwards sat with Mary or not. We got to Broad and Marietta seven and a half minutes after twelve, schedule time. I was relieved at Forsyth and Marietta Streets, where I got off. Mary was still on the car when I got off. It takes two and a half minutes to run from Broad and Marietta to Broad and Hunter. I have timed the car again and again …More
Frank pardon effort blocked; legacy media bias evident, 1982–1984 The trial testimony, along with all exhibits presented by both the defense and prosecution, was thoroughly reviewed by the Supreme Court of Georgia and later by the United States Supreme Court, with rulings issued in 1914 and 1915. Both courts found no procedural or technical errors in the proceedings. In its final judgment, the Georgia Supreme Court concluded that the evidence introduced at Leo Frank’s trial fully supported his conviction. The later testimony of Alonzo Mann did not introduce any substantial new evidence capable of overturning Frank’s guilt. Jim Conley had already admitted to moving the body using the elevator, whereas Mann’s account merely altered the method—claiming the body was carried via the stairs—without changing the essential facts of the crime that occurred on Frank’s office floor. Jim Conley, an African American man, was tried in a racially segregated 1913 Atlanta, where prejudice against …More
Comprehensive Affidavit by Alonzo Mann, Drafted November 10, 1982 in Atlanta Alonzo Mann, who worked as a teenage office boy at the National Pencil Company in 1913, later gave an extensive account in 1982 that supported efforts to clear Leo Frank of Mary Phagan’s murder. Mann said he spent his days in the front office alongside Frank, knew him as a strictly businesslike and respectable manager, and never saw him behave improperly with women at the factory. Mann described Memorial Day 1913 as a half day at the office. He arrived around 8 in the morning, passed Jim Conley sitting under the stairway asking to borrow ten cents, and refused because Conley often drank and never repaid loans. Near midday Mann left briefly to meet his mother downtown, failed to find her, and walked back to the plant roughly thirty minutes later. When Mann reentered the building he turned toward the stairwell and, on the first floor near the elevator and the basement trapdoor, saw Conley holding the limp body …More
Alonzo Mann’s March 4, 1982 Legal Statement from Sullivan County Alonzo McClendon Mann was 83 when he swore this statement on March 4, 1982, in Sullivan County, Tennessee. Born August 8, 1898, near Memphis, he moved to Atlanta as a boy. In 1913, at age 14, he worked as office boy for Leo M. Frank at the National Pencil Company. That year Frank was convicted of murdering 14-year-old Mary Phagan on April 26, Confederate Memorial Day. Mann testified at trial but hid key facts out of fear. He now claims this silence doomed Frank, who was later lynched. Janitor Jim Conley, the prosecution's star witness, lied under oath, Mann asserts. Conley alone killed Phagan and moved her body. That morning Mann found Conley drunk under the stairwell, begging for beer money. Mann refused and went upstairs. Around noon he left to meet his mother for the parade. Phagan had not arrived. On returning shortly after, Mann saw Conley near the basement trapdoor cradling Phagan's limp body. Her hair hung loose …More
The Testimony of Alonzo Mann in the Leo Frank Trial, August 1913, Atlanta, Georgia Alonzo Mann – Testimony for the Defense I work as an office boy at the National Pencil Company. I started on April 1, 1913. My duties mostly involve sitting in the outer office or hallway. On April 26th, 1913, I left the factory at about 11:30 a.m. At that time, Miss Hall, a stenographer from Montag’s, was in the office with Mr. Frank. Mr. Frank asked me to call Mr. Schiff and tell him to come in. I called, but a girl answered and said Mr. Schiff hadn’t gotten up yet. I only called once. In the two Saturdays before the murder, I worked at the factory until around 3:30 or 4:00 p.m., and Mr. Frank was always working during those times. I never saw him bring women into the factory or drink with anyone there. I’ve never seen a man named Dalton in the building. On April 26th, I saw Holloway, Irby, McCrary, and Darley, but not Quinn. I don’t recall seeing Corinthia Hall, Mrs. Freeman, Mrs. White, Graham, …More
Alonzo Mann Deposition to Harry Scott, Pinkerton Detective, May 1913, Atlanta, Georgia My name is Alonzo McClendon Mann. I am 83 years old, born near Memphis, Tennessee, on August 8, 1898, later raised in Atlanta. In 1913, at age fourteen, I was office boy for Leo M. Frank at the National Pencil Company when Mary Phagan, a girl my age, was murdered and Frank was convicted. I testified at his trial but did not reveal everything I knew, because I was not asked and I was frightened. I now state that Leo Frank did not kill Mary Phagan; Jim Conley, the janitor and main witness against Frank, lied under oath and was the real killer. On Confederate Memorial Day, 1913, I arrived at the factory about 8 a.m. and saw Conley drunk under the stairwell asking me for money. I left shortly before noon to meet my mother, saw Conley still there, then returned in less than half an hour. When I came back in the front door, I saw Conley near the trapdoor to the basement holding a small girl’s limp body in …More