In a rare and deeply personal interview, Mary Phagan-Kean, the grand-niece and namesake of Mary Phagan, shared her family’s perspective, her personal journey, and why she remains firmly convinced of Leo Frank’s guilt.
Mary Phagan’s murder at the National Pencil Company in Atlanta set off a chain of events that would culminate in Leo Frank’s conviction, a contentious commutation of his sentence, and ultimately, a lynching by a group of vigilantes. Over a century later, her descendant Mary Phagan-Kean is determined to make sure her family’s voice is heard in a narrative that she says has been distorted by powerful forces.
A Silence Broken at Thirteen
Mary Phagan-Kean first learned of her infamous namesake at the age of 13 in a Charleston, South Carolina classroom. When her science teacher asked whether she was related to the murdered girl from Atlanta, it was the first time she’d ever heard of the story. Traumatized and confused, she took the question home to her father, who turned pale with shock. The family had kept a vow of silence—so strict that even Mary’s mother, who had been married to her father for 14 years, was unaware of the case.
“He told me Leo Frank was a sexual pervert who murdered little Mary Phagan,” she recalled. “That’s all he told me at the time.”
It wasn’t until she moved back to Atlanta at 15 that the full weight of her legacy hit her. On the first day of school at Shamrock High in DeKalb County, every single one of her teachers asked if she was related to Mary Phagan. “It was shocking. I thought I’d never be asked that question again—but all my life, I’ve been asked that question.”
A Lifelong Investigation
Her father eventually encouraged her to investigate the case on her own terms. “He told me to go read everything, form my own opinion, and that the family would help me along the way.”
Thus began a decades-long journey of personal research and collecting. Mary dove into archives, books, court documents, and original newspaper reports. Over the years, she amassed a collection spanning 57 years, which she recently donated to the Georgia State Library. Her goal: to ensure that the “other side” of the story was not lost.
“I was stunned when I learned that a rabbi was donating a collection supporting Leo Frank’s innocence,” she said. “I knew then that I needed to make sure our side was preserved too. There are always two sides to a story.”
Questioning the Narrative
Phagan-Kean expressed concern about how the Leo Frank case has been portrayed over the years, particularly by powerful institutions such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). “They rewrote history,” she asserted. “They turned Leo Frank into a victim and ignored what happened to my family.”
She referred to her careful reading of period sources, including trial summaries, newspaper articles that included question and answers from the trial and the “brief of evidence” that survives in place of a now-missing transcript. She emphasized that the early books on the case presented both sides fairly, particularly citing Guilty or Not Guilty by Francis X. Busch. In contrast, she found later works such as A Little Girl is Dead and A Night Fell on Georgia to be misleading and agenda driven.
When Alonzo Mann, a former office boy, came forward in 1982 with claims that he had seen janitor Jim Conley moving Mary’s body—claims used by some to suggest Frank’s innocence—Phagan-Kean was skeptical. She argued that this “new evidence” was not convincing and had too many discrepancies when weighed against the detailed court reports and media coverage of the time.
Family Opposition to the Pardon
Mary Phagan-Kean took an active stance in opposing efforts to posthumously pardon Leo Frank. She reached out to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles when she learned that a group, including members of the ADL, was applying for the pardon without the family’s knowledge. One board member, Michael Wing, was unaware that close relatives of Mary Phagan were still living.
Eventually, in 1983, the Board denied the pardon, stating they could not determine guilt or innocence. However, in 1986, a surprise announcement was made: Frank was granted a posthumous pardon—without addressing his guilt or innocence.
Phagan-Kean viewed this as a betrayal. “It was all done in secret. We were kept in the dark again,” she said. “It was all orchestrated by backroom deals, including by people like Governor Roy Barnes and Rabbi Lebow. I’m calling them out in my new book.”
Continuing the Fight for the Truth
Despite the passage of time and repeated portrayals of Frank as a victim of antisemitism, Phagan-Kean remains resolute. She acknowledged that antisemitism is a serious issue but rejects the idea that it was the motive behind Frank’s conviction.
“To me, the racism in this case was more directed at Jim Conley, an African-American man who was treated horrifically by both sides. But the real issue is that Leo Frank had a fair trial, and there was strong evidence against him.”
Her upcoming book, a revised edition with 16 new chapters, is set to address what she calls “hoaxes and misinformation,” including media portrayals such as the NBC miniseries that aired in 1987. She claimed the dramatization was riddled with falsehoods, including fabricated scenes that never occurred.
The Legacy of Mary Phagan
The Phagan family has remained protective of their ancestor’s legacy. When the city of Marietta, where Mary is buried, sought to mark her grave with signage for historical tourism, her father refused. “She already has a beautiful marble grave,” Phagan-Kean said. “We don’t need a marker. We don’t want this to be a sideshow.”
Now, at 70 years old, Phagan-Kean says she speaks out only when asked and doesn’t lead with her connection. “You have to ask me about it. I don’t go around introducing myself as the grand-niece of Mary Phagan.”
Yet, when asked, she speaks with a clarity forged over decades of painful discovery, independent research, and unwavering commitment to what she sees as the truth.
“My only goal is for the truth to win again,” she said. “This isn’t about hate. It’s about facts. And those facts have been buried long enough.”