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Was Leo Frank found guilty? All we know amid the 110th anniversary of the Jewish businessman’s death

Leo Frank was kidnapped and lynched in August 1915, months after his death penalty was commuted to life imprisonment
posted by Ashim Arora
Tuesday 8/19/2025 at 2:43PM EDT
  • Leo Frank's case inspired a Broadway musical titled Parade (Image via Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
    Leo Frank's case inspired a Broadway musical titled Parade (Image via Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

    Leo Frank, an Atlanta-based Jewish-American, was kidnapped from prison by a mob of armed men on August 16, 110 years ago, and was lynched the following day.

    The public resentment due to the commutation of his death sentence to life in prison was seen as one of the reasons behind the extrajudicial killing of the 31-year-old man. At the same time, many also considered the then-widespread anti-Semitism as another contributing factor behind the lynching. 

    According to History.com, Leo Frank was employed at the National Pencil Company in Atlanta, the same firm where 13-year-old Mary Phagan worked. He was accused of the death of the teenager who went missing on April 26, 1913, and was found deceased the next day by Newt Lee, a watchman at the factory. 

    Steve Oney notes in his book Phagan’s murder and Frak’s lynching, and the Dead Shall Rise, that the National Pencil Company admitted to being the last person to see the 13-year-old alive. Leo Frank was accused of Mary’s murder and was held at Fulton County Jail after his arrest on April 29. 

    Ultimately, Leo Frank was found guilty in August following a month-long trial and was given the death penalty. Many outlets have highlighted the rampant anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish sentiment around the case. According to the UMKC School of Law, District Attorney Reuben Arnold argued: 

    “If Frank hadn’t been a Jew he never would have been prosecuted.” 

    The New Georgia Encyclopedia referenced the provocative headlines from Thomas E. Watson, a former Populist and the publisher, and concluded in one of its articles on the infamous case: 

    “Frank’s Jewish identity compounded southern resentment toward him, as latent anti-Semitic sentiments, inflamed by Tom Watson, became more pronounced.” 

    Leo Frank received a pardon more than seven decades after his lynching 

    The legal team representing Frank made multiple appeals to the Supreme Court of Georgia and the U.S. Supreme Court, but to no avail. Eventually, the outgoing Georgia governor, John M. Slaton, commuted Frank's sentence to life imprisonment. According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia: 

    “Slaton reviewed more than 10,000 pages of documents, visited the pencil factory where the murder had taken place, and finally decided that Frank was innocent.” 

    The New Georgia Encyclopedia also highlighted that Slaton assumed Frank would eventually be proven innocent and set free. However, the commutation of the sentence created outrage, fuelled by anti-Jewish sentiment. In July, Leo Frank was attacked in prison and his throat was slashed. 

    Although Frank survived the prison attack, he was kidnapped and lynched 110 years ago in August. However, more than seven decades after his death, the Mary Phagan murder took a new turn when new evidence emerged. Alonzo Mann, Frank’s office boy in 1913, claimed that it was Jim Conley, another suspect at the time, who killed Mary. 

    Mann asserted in his testimony that he saw Conley, a janitor at the factory, carrying Phagan’s body. The new findings, though not sufficient for overturning the conviction, led the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles to pardon Frank more than seven decades after his lynching. 

    Leo Frank’s case was instrumental in creating the ADL (Anti-Defamation League), a non-profit to combat anti-Semitism. However, many also considered the case resulting in the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, an extremist hate group. 

    Leo Frank’s trial also inspired the Broadway musical, Parade, and its 2023 Tony-winning revival. The latter recently arrived at the Kennedy Center, marking the 110th anniversary of Frank's death. According to the official website of the Trump-led cultural center, the Parade Revival debuted on August 19 and will play till September 7, 

    TOPICS: Human Interest, Leo Frank, John F. Kennedy Center, Kennedy Center


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