Steve Oneys "And the Dead Shall Rise" is the long overdue definitive account of the lynching of Leo Frank and the preceding and succeeding events. The seventeen years Oney spent researching and writing the book are extremely apparent in the painstaking, harrowing, and often excruciating detail. Oney maintains an extremely objective and historical narrative, yet is able to keep the prose lively enough to captivate the reader, as he systematically presents the thoroughly researched facts about the events that occurred almost daily from the murder of little Mary Phagan to the aftermath of the Frank lynching. The combination of Oneys use of irony and occasional analogy along with the cast of Dickensian and often sinister characters (Tom Watson, Hugh Dorsey, Jim Conley) gives the book the feeling of a novel. The title, drawn from a quote by Nietzsche, asserts that by discussing and writing about the dead, we bring them back to life. Without a doubt, the book is deserving of its title for it is exactly what Oney does. Lost in the extreme detail and caught in the emotional battles involved in the case, the reader often feels that the events described are actually occurring. "And the Dead Shall Rise" is the authoritative account of an event which captures the sheer ignorance, hatred and greed of the early twentieth century American south. On April 26, 1913, the thirty ninth anniversary of the end of the civil war, 13 year old Mary Phagan went to collect her $1.20 in wages from Superintendent Leo M. Frank where she worked at the National Pencil factory on Forsyth Street- but she never came back. Frank who was Northern and Jewish was charged of the crime the very next day. Anti-Semitism was an ever present yet rarely spoken of theme in the two year long world famous trial. Nearly everyone involved in the case (Dorsey, Smith, Watson, Rosser, Lanford, Black, Hearst and more) seems to have a political agenda. The guilt or innocence of Leo Frank matters only to many in terms of their political careers. In many ways the authorities were after Frank from the very beginning. When Jim Conley was finally arrested, and and extremely large amount of evidence pointed towards him as the murderer, Dorsey and the Atlanta police department bent their backs to make it look like Conley was only an accomplice to the murder and Leo Frank actually committed the crime. Countless incidents show politicians hunger for power and political agendas. Not to mention the three Atlanta newspapers: the Journal, the Constitution, and the Georgian (run by William Randolph Hearst) who were all trying to make as much money as possible paying little to no heed to who they were accusing or defending. Frank was convicted for the Murder of Mary Phagan and was sentenced to death. Governor Slaton, who knew about more evidence than the public did, shortly before leaving office commuted the sentence to life imprisonment. Anti-Semitism in Georgia sky-rocketed, and Frank was dragged from his prison cell by a lynch mob and hanged in Marietta. The real breakthrough of Oneys book, however, is that it was a state crime. It had to be. Frank was one of the most famous prisoners in America, and the lynch mob literally came into the heavily guarded prison and within minutes snatched Frank and left. One of the ringleaders of the lynching was former governor Joe Brown, whose statue resides today at the Georgia State capitol building. Oney produces a thoroughly researched list of names of the lynchers and organizers of the lynching of Leo Frank The lynching of Leo Frank is a story which embodies Americas fear and power and serves as an exemplar of southern hatred towards northerners and Jews. After establishing himself as a journalist, having written articles for Esquire, GQ, and the New Yorker, Oney wrote an article about the murder of Mary Phagan for Esquire Magazine. So enthralled in the subject, he felt he had to pursue it. "And the Dead Shall Rise" is a product of seventeen years, longer than Mary Phagan lived, of extreme research. Oney, not a Jew, tried to take the most objective standpoint as possible. When starting the book he erased all previous preconceptions about the case. He dug up all of the old newspapers, affidavits, and detective work to present in the book. He interviewed many of the remaining relatives of people involved in the case, obtaining valuable information. Also, the book is filled with historical events from Atlanta and Georgia history that help the reader understand the events of the trial, providing readers not only with information about Leo Frank but about the history of Atlantas Black and Jewish communities. The book is presented as facts, and he is able to keep the prose captivating without giving too many of his own opinions, letting readers decide. Oney remarked that he believed Frank was "Ninety-Five percent innocent" (a remark which I scoffed at due to my preconceptions of the case as a Jew) leaving the door a little bit ajar and revealing his true objectivity. Oney takes advantage of his skills as a journalist and as a historian, which is for the best unless you are opposed to stuffy writing. All in all, Oney does an incredible job with this book, establishing himself among the great historians. "And the Dead Shall Rise" needed to be written. Our generation, and the generations to come, needs to be informed about these darker sides of history. Oney provides an extremely detailed account of an incident that may very well have been forgotten. Enthralling and informing readers, Oney has produced an astounding historical work filled with rich detail. Anyone who wants to learn more about the darker side of Georgias (and Americas) past must read this book.
In 1913, the 20th century hardly begun, 13-year-old Mary Phagan is murdered at the pencil factory where she works in Atlanta, Georgia and eventually the man arrested for the crime is lynched by a mob after the governor commutes his death sentence. Such is the bare bones of this tragic episode of crime and punishment gone wrong. However, the evidence is confusing, witnesses untruthful and the people all too willing to scapegoat a young married Jew in their midst, Leo Frank. This murder would be processed like any other crime but for the confluence of circumstances that serve up the innocent Leo Frank as the culprit. While detectives gather often-conflicting evidence and witness statements, the opposing newspapers, north and south, run sensational headlines, describing the atrocities of the murder. Each had an axe to grind in the stories they circulate. The northern papers point to the long history of anti-Semitism in the South and the southern papers editorialize against the outside influence of moneyed capitalists interfering with their home rule. One result of this polarized disagreement: the establishment of the Anti-Defamation League and the infamous Ku Klux Klan. White and black, the good citizens of Atlanta look to Leo Frank, prompted by the fear and hatred of the Jews he represents. As the deeply racial issues focus the force of the towns wrath on an innocent man, most grievous is the unexamined testimony of a black man of questionable repute, testimony that is damning to Frank. Supposedly this witness, Jim Conley, is the only witness to the crime, although there is another witness, one who remains silent until 1983, when Alonzo Mann, 85-years-old, finally admitted that he saw Conley carrying Phagans lifeless body and that Conley threatened his life if he told. By its very detailed account, And the Dead Shall Rise is an indictment of a warped judicial system in a city blinded by its anti-Semitism, inflamed by facile politicians with private agendas. Political careers are made during the Phagan affair; to date, no one has been indicted for the abduction and lynching of Leo Frank. However, this book does what none other has accomplished: Oney names the politicians behind the lynching as well as member of the lynch mob. An enormous undertaking, this important book reveals the complex, behind-the-scenes manipulation of events, a stark portrait of greed and political self-promotion. Oney calls it "the conflict that transformed murder into myth", tackling a virtual mountain of court records, affidavits and transcripts, sorting through a constantly shifting landscape of information. Unfortunately, all of the handwritten records were lost over the years, forensic evidence left forever in doubt. Likely the definitive book on the murder of Mary Phagan and the lynching of Leo Frank, And the Dead Shall Rise catalogs the people and events of a shameful time in our history, a story as complicated and dense as the issues that have long divided this country: race, greed and prejudice. Luan Gaines/2003.
DEtailed and analytical approach to an event in history that has implications today. The history of the great southern tragedy that has stimatized the good people of Atlanta even now. Its unfortunate that so much hate still exists today because of this time in US history
