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(JUDAICA.) Henry A. Alexander. Some Facts about the Murder Notes in the Phagan Case. 8 pages. 8vo, printed wrappers, minimal wear; staples removed leaving just a bit of rust. [Atlanta, GA, circa early 1914]
In 1913, a 13-year-old Atlanta girl named Mary Phagan was murdered at the pencil factory where she worked. Despite strong evidence to the contrary, Jewish factory superintendent Leo Frank was convicted of the murder. After a federal appeal, the Governor of Georgia commuted Frank's death sentence in 1915. Two months later a mob seized Frank from prison and lynched him. The verdict has been widely viewed as incorrect, and the lynching one of the low moments of American antisemitism. The story has been told several times on stage and screen, most recently in a 2023 Broadway revival of the musical Parade, which drew a protest from a neo-Nazi group at the theater.
Atlanta lawyer Henry A. Alexander wrote this pamphlet in Frank's defense circa early 1914, not as Frank's attorney, but rather as a local Jewish observer of the trial who felt that Frank was being railroaded. He focuses on the two handwritten notes found near the body, and argues that they implicated a janitor at the factory rather than Frank. This "little pamphlet" is mentioned in the 8 March 1914 issue of the Chattanooga Daily Times. Alexander later joined Frank's team for the final appeals process through the federal courts. 3 in OCLC, and none traced at auction.
With--the author Henry A. Alexander's illustrated business card in his campaign for Congress, 1942; 2 1/4 x 4 inches, light crease.
