Author: Thomas Kidd
Interviewer: Jackson Irby
The trial of Leo Frank for the 1913 murder of Mary Phagan caused a storm of public outrage against the young Jewish man. The trial also spurred verbal attacks against African American suspect James Conley by Frank’s defenders. The allegations made against both Leo Frank and Jim Conley were influenced by existing stereotypes. Frank was largely charged with being a lecherous and sexually deviant man by the prosecution and public commentators. Conley, on the other hand, was painted as a beastly, drunken criminal by Frank’s defenders. The blame was eventually placed on Frank, culminating in his extrajudicial lynching in 1915.