Leo Frank

Leo Frank (April 17, 1884–August 17, 1915) was an American Jew whose lynching was a pivotal event in the evolution of American racism, anti-Semitism, and the Ku Klux Klan.

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Frank, the manager of a pencil factory in Atlanta, Georgia, was accused of raping and murdering an employee, thirteen-year-old Mary Phagan. Frank was convicted, despite evidence incriminating a janitor at the factory, Jim Conley. The prosecution claimed that Conley only helped Frank dispose of the body, in return for $200. After the trial, further evidence came to light calling Frank's guilt into question. The governor commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment, but Frank was then lynched.

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Frank's trial was sensationalized in the media, which promoted fantastic stories about orgies and rape at the factory. Populist politician and publisher Tom Watson skillfully manipulated the story in order to inflame public opinion, and succeeded in using it to build support for the creation of a new Ku Klux Klan, the original organization having been dormant since Reconstruction due to federal action; a second Klan was founded in 1915 by a group calling itself the Knights of Mary Phagan. Frank's lynching turned the spotlight on anti-Semitism in the United States and led to the founding of the Anti-Defamation League.

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1884: 1884 is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar)....

August 17: August 17 is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 136 days remaining....

1915: 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar)....

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