Leadership in Crisis: The Leo Frank Lynching
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Profiles in Leadership
Roy Barnes
Matthew Bernstein
Steve Oney
Georgia Public Broadcasting Studio C, 8/28/09 On August 17, 1915, Leo M. Frank, the Jewish superintendent of the National Pencil Company in Atlanta, was lynched for the murder of thirteen-year-old Mary Phagan, a factory employee. A highly controversial trial fueled by societal tensions and anti-Semitism resulted in a guilty verdict in 1913. After Governor John M. Slaton commuted his sentence from death to life in prison, Frank was kidnapped from the state prison in Milledgeville and taken to Phagan's hometown of Marietta where he was lynched before a local crowd. Without addressing Frank's guilt or innocence, and in recognition of the state's failure to either protect him or bring his killers to justice, the State of Georgia granted Frank a posthumous pardon in 1986. PBS will air a new documentary on the Frank lynching this fall, The People v. Leo Frank, and with the centennial of the events of 1913-1915 fast approaching, GHS has assembled a stellar panel for a timely and important discussion about one of the most controversial and darkest chapters in Georgia and American history. We'll examine the key role of leadership played by publisher/politician Tom Watson, Georgia Governor John Slaton, and others involved in the case, as well as the ongoing legacy of the Frank lynching and the continuing controversy surrounding Frank's guilt and 1986 pardon. The program is free and open to the public |
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