An Unspeakable Crime: The Prosecution and Persecution of Leo Frank

Title: An Unspeakable Crime: The Prosecution and Persecution of Leo Frank
Author: Elaine Marie Alphin
Publisher: Minneapolis : Carolrhoda Books (2010)
ISBN: 9780822589440 0822589443
Pages: 152

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Leo Frank was the superintendent of the pencil factory in Atlanta, Georgia until the fateful day in 1913 when an employee, Mary Phagan, was found murdered in the basement. While there were several other suspects, the Jewish Leo Frank quickly became the prime suspect in the murder. Following a media feeding frenzy, Leo Frank is convicted of the murder on shaky grounds. Even after his death sentence was commuted, "justice" at the hands of Georgia citizens prevailed when Frank was kidnapped and lynched for the crime.

It is true that much of what is taught in history class is taught from the perspective of white middle class males. History as taught in most high school classrooms glosses over anything that is negative in history. This is a fact that continuously bothers me. Not everything in United States history has been good. In fact, much of our history has revolved around persecuting people of different ethnicity, religion, and cultures. A compelling argument can be made that the case of Leo Frank is one of those. Much of this is lost though with the highly pro-Frank bias of the author and her sometimes condescending tone (for example explaining that there wasn't always the Internet). If a high school teacher wants to use a book in class that reveals some of the negatives of American history, they would be much better served by Lies My Teacher Told Me, That's Not in My American History Book, or The People's History of the United States