A list of local experts will come together on Thursday, July 10 to discuss why the 1913 murder of Mary Phagan – and Leo Frank’s subsequent lynching – is a still an important case today at the Atlanta History Center.
On April 26, 1913, Phagan was found murdered in the basement of the National Pencil Company in Atlanta. She was 13 years old. The Jewish superintendent of the factory, 29-year-old Frank, was accused, arrested, and put on trial for the crime.
The events that followed one of the most sensational trials of the century – Frank’s conviction, the commutation of his death sentence and his subsequent lynching – polarized Atlanta, according to The Breman.
Frank’s trial, deeply influenced by public opinion, prejudice and unreliable testimony, led to a controversial conviction. After his death sentence was commuted to life in prison, a mob kidnapped and lynched Frank in 1915. This case remains one of the most infamous lynchings in U.S. history, highlighting critical issues of racial and religious violence and the failures of legal protection, a press release stated.
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“Legacy of a Lynching: Why the Leo Frank case is still relevant today” is a panel discussion on one of the most infamous cases of injustice in American history moderated by Lois Reitzes, recently retired host of WABE’s “City Lights.” Panelists are Hon. Roy E. Barnes, former Georgia governor, Sandy Berman, founding archivist of The Breman, Matthew H. Bernstein, film professor and author, and Steve Oney, author.
Following the panel discussion, Oney will be signing copies of his recently published book, “On Air: The Triumph and Tumult of NPR,” along with copies of “And the Dead Shall Rise,” and Bernstein will be signing his book, “Screening a Lynching: The Leo Frank Case on Film and Television.”
For tickets to the event, visit The Breman.