E17: Prosecuted or Persecuted?

A horse slasher, a Gospel choir, motorcycle races, and whiskey gangs made the summer of 1913 one to remember in Atlanta. But it was the trial of Leo Frank that really had the town buzzing. By late August, the two dueling legal teams wrap up their closing arguments, and then—a verdict.

Months covered in this episode: 30-36 (of 56)

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Catholic fans, welcome back. Afterjust a week, our Catolic Life finale
is already halfway sold out. Earlybird pricing only lasts through this Thursday,
February thirteenth. After that, allthe prices go up. The best remaining
deals were the combo packages for theCatlic Walking Tour, so be sure to

(00:21):
check those out. It's all goingdown the weekend of March the fourteenth,
so go grab your tickets now atcatlick dot com. That's catlick dot com,
all right, enjoy the episode.The summer of nineteen thirteen was a
wild one around Atlanta, pure crazyfrom top to bottom. July thirty,

(00:46):
first Constitution headline equine Jack the Rippergets his tenth mule. This drama was
unfolding south of Atlanta, where someunknown person had been sneaking into barns late
at nine in killing mules and horses, slashing them with a knife. Hence
the Jack the Ripper reference. Thisparticular article notes that this was the tenth

(01:08):
time this had happened. Police werebaffled, and we're looking for the killer.
On a more positive note, theFisk Jubilee Singers performed in Atlanta that
same month, They were a wellknown African American choir that hailed from Fisk
University in Nashville, Tennessee. Theywere the earliest known group to record the

(01:30):
Negro Spiritual Swing Low Sweet Chariot.While in Atlanta, they performed at one
of Atlanta's legendary black churches, FirstCongregational. You may remember from episode five.

(01:53):
That's where Pastor Henry Hugh Procter preacheda fiery sermon about the Atlanta ripper.
Way back in the summer nineteen eleven, The Constitution reported that the voices
of the Fisk Jubilee Singers quote blendedtogether in perfect unison when they visited Atlanta.
They were so popular they had toadd a second performance, and that

(02:15):
quote, white as well as coloredare invited. There was additional news in
Atlanta's black community when Alonzo Herndon swungopen the doors of his newly remodeled barber
shop. Alonzo Herndon is one ofthe all time epic names in Atlanta's black

(02:36):
history. He was born into slaveryunder circumstances far too common for the time.
He was the child of an enslavedwoman who'd been raped by her white
master, Frank Herndon once emancipated ineighteen sixty five. Herndon's family was dirt
poor, and even as a youngkid, he did what he could to
support the family. Eventually he learnedhow to cut hair. After saving enough

(03:00):
money, he moved to Atlanta andopened a barbershop. Over time, his
reputation grew. The Atlanta Journal oncecalled him efficient, spectful, and thrifty,
and eventually he became the go tobarber for Atlanta's prominent white men,
government officials, businessmen, bankers,and more. It was big news when

(03:23):
he opened a new barbershop on Atlanta'sflashy Peachtree Street. It was, for
a while, the only black ownedbusiness located in the city's mostly white business
district. In the summer of nineteenthirteen, Herndon opened his newly remodeled shop,
which was heralded for its high endfeatures and finishes. He loved to

(03:44):
travel and collected design inspiration from thefinest shops in Europe, so when the
shop opened in Atlanta, patrons werein awe at the sixteen foot mahogany doors,
white marble, and Brounze electric chandeliers. Years later, Alonso Herndon would
pivot to a new industry, insurance. He founded the Atlanta Life Insurance Company,

(04:06):
which would make him one of Atlanta'searliest black millionaires. The summer of
nineteen thirteen also saw a new outbreakof violence in Atlanta's long running whiskey wars.
In the early nineteen tens, therewere two rival whiskey gangs operating in
distinct turfs across Atlanta. Think ofthese groups like the predecessors of modern day

(04:30):
drug traffickers, but instead of drugs, they trafficked in Atlanta's favorite liquid vice,
whiskey. Referred to back then asBlind Tiger, these gangs directed a
sophisticated supply chain, buying barrels ofwhiskey at wholesale from out of state distillers,
then smuggling it into the city usingwagons, trucks, and rail,

(04:54):
storing it at secret warehouses, andfinally distributing it to an army of peddlers
who'd sell bottles and the smokey gamblinghalls and dark alleys of downtown Atlanta.
Atlanta's whiskey gangs were led by Danking Shaw and hub Tally. The local
newspapers referred to them as Tiger kingsKingshaw was a former mechanic and prize fighter.

(05:18):
He was arrested dozens of times overthe years for selling illegal booze,
and he one time told the Constitutionthat he'd made five hundred thousand dollars selling
Blind Tiger over three years. That'sthe equivalent of about thirteen million dollars today.
Kingshaw, however, was a churchboy compared to his chief rival,

(05:41):
hub Tally. Tally was the crazyone, a violent tyrant known for shooting
up saloons, snitching on his rivals, and threatening to kill anyone who testified
against him in court. The Constitutiononce reported that he'd shot three men in
one week, and he was judgedcriminally insane and sentenced to time in an

(06:02):
asylum. This was a very roughguy. Well. In nineteen thirteen,
hub Tally makes one of his finalappearances in the newspapers of Atlanta. As
the story goes, he calmly approachedone of his rivals down on Peter Street,
pulled out a revolver, and shothim in the chest at point blank
range. Months later, police werethrilled to finally see hub Tally get a

(06:27):
twelvemonth jail sentence after having the restof him forty eight times previously for smaller
offenses. Another big story from thesummer of nineteen thirteen was that of the
Atlanta Motor Drome. A wealthy NewYorker, Jack Prince, had been approved
to build an enormous motorcycle racing trackeast of downtown Atlantic. Now, FYI

(06:50):
here the track no longer exists,but if you've ever been to the King
Center in Atlanta's old Fourth Ward,you're right around the area where the track
used to be. Jack Prince gothis start in bicycle racing, but he'd
made the shift of motorcycles once theybecame popular in the early nineteen hundreds.
Prince opened his first motor drome inLos Angeles in nineteen o nine. The

(07:13):
La Motordrome was a hit with spectators, and Americans quickly became obsessed with the
sport that would pit racers head tohead had unheard of speeds, So when
the papers announced that Jack Prince wasbringing a motordrome to Atlanta, it was
all the rage. This from theconstitution. This track will be entirely different

(07:35):
from the old style of tracks,being steeper and much more attractive than with
a flood of light that will makeit as bright as day, everything being
new and painted in new colors.It then describes what the opening day will
be like, banners flying, abig band of music and the puttering motorcycles
with daring riders speeding along at aninety mile per hour. Clip will show

(07:58):
people the very latest beat sports now. The motordrome track was made of wooden
planks, and the grade of theAtlantic track itself was designed at a terrifying
fifty six degrees. I've seen picturesof several motor dromes. They're posted in
the vault and it's wild. Itliterally looks like these guys are driving on
a vertical wall. Because of this, motordromes were incredibly dangerous, lots of

(08:24):
big crashes, with guys getting maimedand sometimes killed. At a race in
Newark, a couple of racers jumpedthe track and were launched into the grand
stand. Eight people were killed inthe fiery crash, including four little boys.
Newspapers eventually started referring to them asmurder dromes. Nevertheless, the Atlanta

(08:46):
Motor Drome opened in June of nineteenthirteen. Racers from around the world came
to Atlanta for the grand opening,seven thousand spectators packed into the stands on
opening day. Harry Glenn, thetop racer in Georgia, was there that
day. Sadly, the hometown favoritewas beaten by a guy from Paris.

(09:09):
Races continued throughout that summer, butdrama flared up when it was announced that
the Black Streaks would be allowed ontothe track. The Black Streaks was an
all black racing group based in Atlanta. These guys had incredible nicknames owns the
Outlaw Midnight and haul Demon Wade War. I can't tell the whole crazy story

(09:31):
here, but you can find itinside the Vault. We've got a special
half lick all about the Black Streaksjust for you Vault subscribers. And of
course, what's in Atlanta summer inthe nineteen tens without fresh ripper news.
The Ripper murders had peaked a coupleof years earlier nineteen eleven nineteen twelve.

(09:52):
However, there were still several Ripperstyle murders that happened in Atlanta in nineteen
thirteen, one of them in lateAugust headline Miss Grace has made is murdered.
Eighteenth victim of Ripper. Martha Ruffianwas a young black housemaid. She

(10:13):
was found murdered. Her body hadbeen dragged fifty feet and dumped him some
bushes off Ponts Da Leon Avenue.She'd been killed by a single knife wound
to the throat in what the articlereferred to as the Jack the Ripper style.
Police had launched an investigation into hermurder. However, right next to

(10:33):
this story about the eighteenth Ripper victimwas an even bigger headline, the biggest
story of the summer of nineteen thirteen, the Constitution August twenty fifth headline,
Leo Frank's fate may be decided byMonday night. The summer of nineteen thirteen
wasn't primarily about whiskey wars, ormotor dromes or the Fisk Singers. Oh

(10:58):
No. At was completely obsessively,manically consumed with one story and with the
twelve men who had to decide.Was Leo Frank an innocent man falsely accused
of a heinous crime or was hea child killer the face of pure undeluded

(11:18):
evil. By the end of August, they were about to find out.
You're listening to episode seventeen of CatolicProsecuted or Persecuted by the end of August,

(12:20):
the trial of Leo Frank had becomeone of the longest trials in Georgia's
state history. Hundreds of witnesses hadtaken the stand, and court stenographers had
recorded more than one million words inthe official transcripts of the proceedings. But
by August twenty first, things werewinding down and closing arguments were set to
begin. On the twenty first,court opened just like it had many days

(12:43):
before, Judge Rohne presiding a crowdedpress corps and several dozen spectators. It
was time for closing arguments and theprosecution got to deal the first blows.
They began by attacking Frank's character.They reminded the jurors of the women who
testified that they'd seen Frank being friendlywith the factory girls on more than one

(13:05):
occasion. Next, Dorsey's right handman, Frank Hooper, invoked a story
that everyone in the courtroom was familiarwith Doctor Jekyll and mister Hyde. He
used this to frame his belief thatbeneath the superintendent's professional exterior, a sinister
killer lurked. After that, Hooperattacked Jim Conley, insinuating that he was

(13:28):
too dumb to have written the murdernotes. You know these negroes, you
know their traits, he said.A big part of the prosecution's case was
that this plan to kill Mary Faganwas so diabolically complex it must have been
committed by a white man, becauseno black person could pull off such a

(13:48):
ruse. Next the defense, whendefense attorney Reuben Arnold rose to address Hooper's
opener, he took a surprising angle. He claimed that there was only one
reason Leo Frank was even being chargedwith this crime. He was a Jew.
Now, this tension, this ideathat Leo Frank had been treated so

(14:11):
poorly in the media because he wasJewish, was always sort of lurking in
the background of the trial, butit hadn't been addressed until now. To
prove his point, Arnold referenced oneof the prosecution's witnesses, a streetcar driver
named George Kinley. Apparently someone hadheard Kinley say quote that damn jew they
ought to hang him. Arnold usedKinley as just one example, but he

(14:39):
believed that other witnesses likely held similarbiases. So why were the locals so
anti Jewish? Well, Arnold hada theory, saying quote, Frank comes
from a race of people that havemade money. Quote. These witnesses,
Arnold maintained, had trashed Frank forone simple reason. They were jeal of

(15:00):
his wealth. Now, now you'veprobably figured out that Atlanta wasn't exactly the
most inclusive place. In the earlynineteen hundreds, African Americans faced the fiercest
levels of discrimination, but the city'sJewish community had their fair share as well.
Jewish immigrants began flooding into Atlanta duringthe late eighteen hundreds. Many of

(15:22):
them set up shops in downtown andbecame successful business owners. Others bought real
estate, and by nineteen hundred therewere several very successful Jewish families in Atlanta.
But despite their wealth and success,many of Atlanta's Jews still found themselves
on the outside looking in on thewhite Christian culture of the Old South.

(15:45):
Another example of the anti Jewish gatekeeping in Atlanta social clubs. Atlanta was
known for its elite social clubs,which catered to the city's wealthiest and most
influential citizens. The two most prominentwere the Capital City Club and the Piedmont
Driving Club, and both of themrefused membership to African Americans. And Jews.

(16:06):
In response to this, Atlanta's Jewishcommunity started its own social clubs,
which were exclusive in their own right. The Atlanta newspapers didn't help either.
They often reinforced anti Semitic stereotypes.It wasn't uncommon for them to use the
word Jew as a verb or torefer to someone as a quote honest Jew,

(16:26):
which of course implies that most Jewscouldn't be trusted in business dealings.
In addition to being Jewish, LeoFrank was also a Northerner, which was
an identity also maligned by working classwhite Southerners. In his book Strangers at
the Gate, author Stephen Hertzberg summarizesthe tension. Mary Fagan's death channeled the

(16:51):
fears and disillusionments of a society undergoingindustrial transformation and rapid social change, and
projected these collective resentments onto a NorthernJewish industrialist who had settled in Atlanta only
six years earlier. The degree ofAtlanta's anti Jewishness in the nineteen tens is
still debated today, but it wasdefinitely a thing to one degree or another.

(17:15):
After bringing up the anti Jewish biasthat had been swirling around Atlanta,
Ruben Arnold shifted to the topic ofLeo Frank's character. He noted that virtually
all the factory girls who'd spoken againstFrank were former factory workers ie disgruntled employees.
With an axtagrin. He then addressedJim Conley and began to articulate the

(17:37):
defense's belief that he and he alonewas the murderer of Mary Fagan. This
is Ruben Arnold speaking in court.Conley admits he was right there behind the
elevator when that little girl came intothe factory, and he was right there
when she came down. Probably hisaim was robbery. Here was a drunken,

(18:00):
crazed negro, hard up for money. The little girl probably held to
it. When he grabbed it.He struck her in the eye and she
fell. It is but the workof one moment, gentlemen, to push
her into that elevator shaft. Whygo further than this black wretch there by
the elevator shaft, fired with liquor, fired with lust and crazy for money.

(18:22):
Why negroes rob and ravish every dayin the most peculiar and shocking way.
But Frank's race don't kill. Theyare not a violent race. Some
of them may be immoral, butthey go no further than that. Yeah,
this whole thing was in fact agigantic cluster of racist tropes and wild
accusations. After Arnold spoke, itwas Luther Rosser's turn to advocate for Frank,

(18:48):
and he made several strong points.For one, Frank could never have
known exactly if or when Mary Faganwould come in to pick up her pay
on that Saturday. Therefore, there'sno way he could have set an elaborate
trap which required a look out,precise timing, and an empty factory.
He also explained that if Frank appearednervous the day after the murder, it

(19:11):
was merely the natural result of seeinga dead child lying on a cold Morgue
table. Anyone would have been nervous. However, Luther Rosser reserved the bulk
of his rage for Jim Conley.He proclaimed to the jury that Conley was
nothing more than the prosecution's puppet,that he was coached, that every word
was a lie scripted by the prosecution, and in case there was any doubt

(19:37):
about how Rosser really felt about Conley, he had this to say. Conley
is a plain, beastly drunken,filthy, lying negro with a spreading nose
through which probably tons of cocaine havebeen sniffed, but you weren't allowed to
see him as he is. Onceagain, negro was not the word he

(19:59):
used, and in Luther Rosser's finalmonologue, he made a direct appeal to
the jury and an unfiltered appeal towhite supremacy. If you, as white
men, should believe Jim Conley,it will be a shame on this great
city and on this great state,and will be until the end of time.
For the record, we have noindication that anyone objected or thought that

(20:22):
this was out of place. Withhis final appeal, Luther Rosser took his
seat. It was now Hugh Dorsey'sturn to make his case, and he
wasted no time. He began bypunching back at the claim that the trial
had been skewed by anti Jewish prejudice. Hugh Dorsey turned to the men and

(20:45):
the jury and addressed them directly,gentlemen, do you think that I or
that these detectives are actuated by prejudice? Would we, as sworn officers of
the law, have sought to hangLeo Frank on account of his race and
religion and passed up Jim Conley,a Negro. Now he's basically saying,

(21:07):
listen, fosso prejudiced, we wouldhave just gone after the easy target,
the black guy. He doesn't knowhe's doing it, but Dorsey is validating
the existence of the social hierarchy ofAtlanta white Christians, white Jews, then
blacks. Next, Dorsey declared thatthe defense brought up the issue of anti

(21:27):
Semitism only when they realized their casewas a sinking ship. This, he
hypothesized, was simply a desperate attemptto get some sympathy from the jury.
Hugh Dorsey then turned his attention towardsthe Jews. He began by listing off
the noble Jews of the past,those who'd accomplished great things on behalf of

(21:48):
humanity, But then he followed itby naming several scoundrels of Jewish history,
even invoking the name of Judas Iscariot. At one point, Dorsey summarized,
this great people rise to heights sublime, but they sink to the depths of
degradation. Two after this, SolicitorDorsey laid out his final theory on what

(22:12):
had transpired on that Saturday at thepencil factory. Frank, he claimed,
had planned his attack for weeks,maybe even months. When Mary arrived at
the factory that day, Frank luredher into the metal room for sex.
When she refused him, he struckher. Then Dorsey turns to Frank,
sitting across the courtroom, and letsthis scorcher fly. You assaulted her,

(22:37):
and she resisted, she wouldn't yield. You struck her, and you ravished
her, and she was unconscious.At this very dramatic moment, Fanny Coleman,
Mary's mother, let out a loudscream and began to weep. Dorsey
continued with his theory, which heldthat after raping and unconscious Mary Fagin,

(22:57):
Frank strangled her with a cord andthen enlisted the help of Jim Conley to
clean up his mess. He firstconned Conley into writing the murder notes,
and then he bribed him with twohundred dollars to burn the body in the
basement furnace. As Dorsey wrapped uphis final thoughts, he turned to the
jury his final admonition, Gentleman,every act of that defendant proclaims him guilty.

(23:22):
Gentleman, every word of that defendantproclaims him responsible for the death of
this little factory girl. Gentleman,every circumstance in this case proves him guilty
of this crime. Extraordinary, yes, but nevertheless true, just as true
as Mary Fagin is dead. Shedied a noble death, not a blot
on her name. She died becauseshe wouldn't yield her virtue to the demands

(23:47):
of her superintendent. Your Honor,I have done my duty, and I
predict may it please your honor thatunder the law that you give in charge,
and under the honest opinion of thejury of the evidence produced, there
can be but one verdict, andthat is we the jury find the defendant,
Leo M. Frank guilty. Guiltyguilty. Closing arguments wrapped up on

(24:15):
Monday, August twenty fifth, atone thirty five pm. The jury left
the courtroom and began their deliberations.The press corps alerted their newsrooms that a
verdict was imminent. Words spread likefire through Atlanta, and within about an
hour, a crowd of five thousandpeople had gathered outside Atlanta City Hall to
hear the verdict. Now, duringthis time, Judge Rone made a surprising

(24:41):
decision. Neither Leo Frank, norany member of his family, nor his
legal team should be present in thecourtroom when the verdict was written. Like
everyone else in Atlanta, Judge roneknew what the people wanted. All summer
long at Lantin's had been hanging onevery word of the Frank trial, and
variety of reasons, public sentiment hadonly moved in one direction towards the guilt

(25:06):
of Leo Frank. By August,most of Atlanta believed Frank was guilty.
Judge ron knew that if Frank wasacquitted, the threat of mob violence towards
Frank, his family, and hisattorneys was very real. He knew that
even in the supposedly cosmopolitan city ofAtlanta, lynching fever was a threat.
In nineteen thirteen, the South wasthe South, both in the backwaters of

(25:30):
Forsyth County and amongst the skyscrapers ofdowntown Atlanta. Judge rone was taking no
chances. After just an hour andforty five minutes, word was sent that
the jury had reached their decision,a ripple of excitement spread through the crowd
down on the streets. In thecourtroom, things were tense. Judge rone

(25:55):
called the court to order. Turningto the jury box, the gray haired
roan asked, gentlemen, have youreached her verdict? Juror fred Winburne was
the foreman. It was his jobto communicate the jury's decision. Newspapers reported
that he spoke with a trembling voice, we have your honor, We have

(26:18):
found the defendant guilty. Within secondsof the verdict being read, reporters raced
to an adjoining room, where atangled web of phone lines had been set
up precisely for this moment. Frankguilty, they shouted into the handsets.
Back at the newsroom, the printingpresses sprang to life. Moments later word

(26:41):
reached the crowd gathered on the streets. Their reaction was exactly as you'd imagine.
A reporter described the scene. Thecry of guilty took winged flight from
lip to lip. It traveled likethe rattle of musketry. Then came a
combined shout that rose to the sky. Hats went into the air, women

(27:02):
wept and shouted by turns. SolicitorHugh Dorsey bounded down the stairwell inside Atlanta
City Hall and out into the light. When the crowd laid eyes on him,
another massive cheer rolled through the streetsof Atlanta. Three burly men emerged
from the crowd and grabbed Dorsey,hoisting him onto their shoulders. The Constitution

(27:25):
says that they then quote passed himover the heads of the crowd and across
the street, which I can onlyassume means they crowd served the guy in
that moment. Hugh Dorsey was themost popular man in the South's grandest city,
and he would forever be known asthe man who took down Leo Frank.

(27:45):
Meanwhile, just down the road,a group of Leo Frank's closest allies
sombrely ascended the stairs to his cellin the Fulton Tower. They had to
deliver the news. When they arrived, both Lee and Lucille were sitting quietly
alone, but together. Frank's doctor, Howard Rosenberg, delivered the bad news.

(28:10):
Leo Frank, ever, the stoic, reportedly responded by saying, quote,
my god, even the jury wasinfluenced by mob law. His wife
understandably fell apart. A reporter wasthere. He described the grief. Miss
Frank huddled closer to her boyish lookinghusband. There was a wild stare in

(28:30):
her eyes. She threw her armsabout his neck and sobbed bitterly. He
stroked her head and pleaded with herto be brave. Later that day,
Leo Frank released an official statement,just eleven words, I am as innocent
today as I was one year ago. That's it. The city of Atlanta

(28:55):
continued to buzz throughout the day ofofficials, with Southern bell later A hoarded
that more calls were placed that daythan any other day in Atlanta's history.
Each newspaper kept special editions rolling offthe presses into the night. The Georgian
alone sold one hundred and thirty thousandcopies in a single day. The next

(29:17):
morning, there was one final bitof business. Sentencing Judge Rone held a
secretive meeting to announce Leo Frank's fate. Only Frank's attorneys and a few reporters
were present. Judge Rone's decision wasanything but surprising his words, it is

(29:37):
ordered and adjudged by the Court thaton the tenth day of October nineteen thirteen,
the defendant, Leo M. Frank, shall be executed by the Sheriff
of Fulton County, that said defendanton that day between ten o'clock am and
two o'clock pm shall be hanged bythe neck until he shall be dead,
and may God have mercy on hissoul. It was official. Leo Frank

(30:00):
was set to hang for the murderof Mary Fagan. By the next day,
Leo Frank's legal team was hard atwork preparing their appeal. They immediately
filed a motion for a new trial. That motion couldn't be addressed until early
October, which meant the original dateof Frank's capital punishment, October tenth,

(30:23):
would have to be pushed back.When October came, Frank's attorneys put forth
their best case, but to noavail. Judge Rohan refused Leo Frank a
new trial and rescheduled his execution forApril of the next year. Leo Frank's
defense team, however, would notbe discouraged. They were already planning their

(30:45):
next appeal. Through the final falland winter months of nineteen thirteen, the
name Leo Frank began to fade fromthe papers. Not completely, oh no,
this story was far from over,but the frenzy of day Lee coverage
was dialed back to occasional mentions inthe papers, usually about the ongoing appeals.

(31:07):
Though coverage of the story faded,the unrest in Atlanta's Jewish community certainly
did not. The Frank case blastedshock waves of fear to Atlanta's Jews,
and there was a sense of deepbetrayal by a city they'd believed had accepted
them. After all, if oneof their best men, Leo Frank,
could be sentenced to hang for acrime he didn't commit, then no one

(31:30):
was safe. The making Telegraph ofPaper, located a few hundred miles south
of Atlanta, perfectly captured the divisioncaused by the Frank trial. The long
case and its bitterness has hurt thecity greatly, and that it has opened
a seemingly impassable chasm between the peopleof the Jewish race and the gentiles.

(31:52):
It has broken friendships of years,has divided the races, brought about bitterness
deeply regretted by all factions. Thefriends who rallied to the defensive Leah Frank
feel that racial prejudice has much todo with a verdict. They are convinced
that Frank was not prosecuted but persecuted, not prosecuted but persecuted. This would

(32:16):
become the firm belief of Atlanta's Jewsthat Leah Frank was unjustly convicted of a
crime he didn't commit due to aflood of anti Jewish bias generated by the
media, the prosecution, and evenevery day at Lanton's. One such member

(32:37):
of Atlanta's Jewish community that had likelybeen following the Frank case very closely was
Jacob Elsis. Jacob Elsis founded andowned one of the largest factories in town.
Known for his relentless innovation, hardwork, and philanthropy, Jacob Elsis
had become one of the pillars ofAtlanta's Jewish community. Elsis had constructed his

(33:00):
industrial facility way back in eighteen eightyone on a desolate tract of land on
the eastern edge of Atlanta. Overseveral decades, he'd grown it into a
massive operation, employing upwards of fifteenhundred people. By nineteen thirteen, it
was one of the top five hundredlargest corporations in America. But success always

(33:22):
comes with a price, and byDecember of nineteen thirteen, Jacob Elsis was
just tired. He'd spent thirty yearsas the company's president, and retirement was
calling his name. It was nowtime to pass the reins to his son,
Oscar. When he took over aspresident. Oscar, Jacob's son was
only forty three years old. Thoughrelatively young, he wasn't a newcomer to

(33:45):
the textile industry. He'd been workingat his dad's factory for the last twenty
years. While Jacob the father wasa risk taking entrepreneur with big dreams,
Oscar was anything but he was moreof a manager, more of a details
guy. And as a details guy, the new president of the Fulton Bag

(34:06):
and Cotton Mill kept meticulous records,and all those records, all that paperwork
ended up in one place, yep, a vault tucked away in the back
of the executive suite inside a redbrick factory building with two enormous smokestacks that

(34:27):
towered over a tiny mill village thatwould one day be known as Cabbage Town.
Have forgotten about that hidden vault,have you? I hope not,
because we're going back there now.We're going to keep following the Leo Frank
story. It's far from over,however. As nineteen thirteen turns to nineteen

(34:52):
fourteen, rumors begin flying around Atlanta'srough and rowdy Cabbage Town. Rumors of
rebellion, rumors of an uprising,rumors of a revolt. Our fourth and
final story is about to begin andyou're not gonna want to miss it.

(35:14):
That's next time on Catlick once again. This is your final reminder that early
bird ticket pricing is about to expirefor our Catolic Live Finale, which happens
on March the fourteenth, So goget your tickets to both the finale and

(35:36):
one of our Catolic Walking tours rightnow at catlic dot com. The venue
is a huge and we've already soldmore than fifty percent of the available seats.
We've got an amazing night plan andI would love to meet you as
we wrap up the catlic saga onceagain. You can look at all the
ticket options over at catlic dot comand don't forget early bird pricing runs through

(36:00):
February of the thirteenth. Catolic isrecorded in Atlanta's historic Cabbage Town neighborhood.
Executive producer walnut Ridge Harmon. Originalmusic and sound design by Doucel Cover art

(36:24):
by Rachel Eleanor Catolic Store manager BrettHarmon. Additional research for this episode by
Jack Lindsay Catolic Instagram. Follower ofthe Week Janetta Larous Catolic Instagram commenter of
the Week Chris Lanier, Catolic TwitterFollower of the Week Sam Holmes, and

(36:51):
your favorite. The Catolic hater ofthe week comes from Apple user atl Boy
for two zero, who says,quote I got ten episodes in I really
tried him. Quote well, atlBoy four twenty number one, thank you
for listening. Number two. Ihave a sneaking suspicion you're still listening,

(37:14):
but I'm sending you all the catlick in love either way. Hey,
remember when I talked about the AtlantaMotor Drum. Well, number one,
don't forget. We have a specialhalflick all about that inside the vault.
But number two, we designed areally sweet Motor Drum T shirt that's for
sale inside the Catholic store. Now, they didn't have graphic keys back then,

(37:36):
but if they did, this iswhat we think a grand opening T
shirt would have looked like when theMotor Drum opened in the summer of nineteen
thirteen. Go check it out andhick one up for yourself at you guessed
it catlick dot com. Are youenjoining Catolic? If so, would you
mind leaving a review on Apple Podcastsor wherever you listen to great podcasts,

(37:58):
it makes a huge difference in helpingothers discover the show, and finally,
Catholic is independently written and produced byme bt Harmon signing off, I'd like
to remind you to sabled buildings,build bike lanes and vote for public transit.
We'll see you in the next episode.