Thirteen-year-old Mary Phagan is found raped and murdered in the basement of the Atlanta, Georgia, pencil factory where she worked

Thirteen-year-old Mary Phagan is found raped 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 her body were two small notes that pinned the crime on Newt Lee, the night watchman. Lee was arrested, but it quickly became evident that the notes were a crude attempt by Jim Conley, the factory's janitor, to cover up his own crime.

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 n****r 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. 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 lynchmob stormed the prison, handcuffed the warden, the guards and abducted Frank, bringing him to Phagan's hometown. There he was hanged from a giant oak tree. Thousands of spectators watched, then had pictures taken with his lifeless body. Although most of the country was outraged, Watson was still elected to the Senate in 1920! 

Frank did not receive a pardon until 1986, because he was denied the right to appeal.

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