Waubonsee Community College

The people v. Leo Frank, by Ben Loeterman

eng

videorecording

For College; Adult audiences

The people v. Leo Frank

electronic resource

794308165

by Ben Loeterman

84

Criminal justice and public safety in video

This dramatized documentary, drawn verbatim from transcripts, combines the intrigue of a murder mystery with a revealing look at racial, religious and class prejudices. The case was a key factor in the founding and development of the Anti-Defamation League. Originally from New York, Leo Frank was the manager of a pencil factory in Atlanta in 1913, when he was accused and convicted in the rape and murder of a worker, thirteen-year-old Mary Phagan. The case is widely regarded as having been a miscarriage of justice. It was the focus of conflicting cultural pressures, represented class and regional resentment of so-called educated Northern industrialists who were perceived to be wielding too much power in the South, threatening its system of justice, culture and morality. The trial occupied the front page of every American newspaper and captivated public attention around the world. Shortly after Frank's conviction, new evidence emerged that cast doubt on Frank's guilt. The Governor commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment, sparking riots in Atlanta. A populist newspaper urged that Frank not be allowed to escape "justice." On August 17, 1915, Frank was kidnapped from the state prison and lynched by a mob in Phagan's hometown of Marietta, Georgia

general

unknown