Leo Frank and the Murder of Mary Phagan

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In 1913, Leo Frank was arrested for the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan in Atlanta, Georgia. Two years later, he, too, was dead. In this episode, Christine explores the complicated case and its perhaps unexpected musical theatre legacy.
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​Host: Christine

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Further Reading
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Leonard Dinnerstein, The Leo Frank Case, Revised Edition, University of Georgia Press, (2008).

–, "Leo Frank Case." New Georgia Encyclopedia, (last modified Aug 11, 2020).

“Georgia Pardons Victim 70 Years After Lynching,” New York Times, (12 March 1986).

Jon Gillooly, "After 106 years, Leo Frank gets another day in court," Marietta Daily Journal, (14 June 2019).

Stephen J. Goldfarb, "The Slaton Memorandum: A Governor Looks Back At His Decision to Commute the Death Sentence of Leo Frank," American Jewish History, 88:3 (September 2000), 325-339.

Jason Robert Brown & Alfred Uhry Discuss the Process of Bringing PARADE to the Stage via Broadway World (6 March 2023).

Bobby Kennedy, “The Minds Behind PARADE: Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown,” Writers Theatre, (2017).

The Leo Frank Case: On the Screen and in the Brandeis Archives (2020).

The Leo Frank Petition: A Cry of Injustice Ignored, via National Archives.

Leo Frank Trial Collection, 1909-1961. Brandeis University. 

Eugene Levy, “”Is the Jew a White Man?”: Press Reaction to the Leo Frank Case, 1913-1915,” Phylon, 35:2 (1974): 212-222.

Nancy MacLean, “The Leo Frank Case Reconsidered: Gender and Sexual Politics in the Making of Revolutionary Populism,” The Journal of American History, 78:3 (1991): 917-948. 

"Mission and History," Anti-Defamation League.

Steve Oney, And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank, Vintage (2004).

-, "Did Leo Frank kill Mary Phagan?", Atlanta, (31 May 2019).

Pardons & Restoration of Rights, via Georgia State Board of Paroles and Pardons

The Tragic Case of Leo Frank featuring Steve Oney and Sandy Berman, Breman Museum (2021)

Trial and Lynching of Leo Frank: Topics in Chronicling America, Library of Congress. 

C. Van Woodward, Tom Watson: Agrarian Rebel, Oxford University Press, reissue (1966).

Videos

Alex Joseph Grayson sings 'That's What He Said' from Parade's Broadway revival (2023).

Brent Carver, Carolee Carmello, and Company sing 'This Is Not Over Yet'/'The Old Red Hills of Home' from Parade at the 1999 Tony Awards.

Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond sing ‘This Is Not Over Yet’ from Parade’s Broadway revival (2023).

Ben Platt sings 'How Can I Call this Home?' from Parade's Broadway revival (2023).

Douglas Lyons and Courtnee Carter sing 'A Rumblin' and a Rollin' from Parade's Broadway revival (2023).

Images
Leo Frank via Library of Congress.

The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.), 12 March 1914. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers via Library of Congress. Image provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL.

Related Content
This episode is part of our True Crime series.

Music: "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin Macleod (www.incompetech.com)

The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.), 12 March 1914. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.