Fred Bone

Urban Murals: Not a Fan

Proof positive that the Good Lord is His Providence can take something purely evil and use it for good.

EJ is a lying animal. Woodrow Wilson from the same year 1909: "In one sense, it is a superfluous thing to speak of General Lee, — he does not need the eulogy of any man. His fame is not enhanced, his memory is not lifted to any new place of distinction by any man’s word of praise, for he is secure of his place. It is not necessary to recount his achievements; they are in the memory not only of every soldier, but of every lover of high and gifted men who likes to see achievements which proceed from character, to see those things done which are not done with the selfish purpose of self-aggrandizement, but in order to serve a country, and prove worthy of a cause. These are the things which make the name of this great man prominent not only, but in some regards unapproachable in the history of our country." -Woodrow Wilson 1/19/1909

The fact that he needs a name plate on his desk speaks volumes.

Today is the 113th anniversary of the sex murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan by her sweatshop boss Leo Frank. Today Jonathan Greenblatt and the ADL will be telling us that Frank was an "innocent victim of anti-Semitism." That is a lie. Simple logic and the plain facts prove it to be a lie. The #murder took place on the second floor of the National Pencil Company in #Atlanta. Besides the victim, there were only six people in the building. And five of them obviously didn’t do it. That leaves #LeoFrank. The six were: 1) Harry Denham and 2) Arthur White, machinists working up on the fourth floor, and 3) Mrs. White, who was with her husband on the fourth floor and had just brought him lunch; 4) 14-year-old Monteen Stover who had come to get her pay from Frank and found his office empty at the time of the murder; 5) the Black janitor Jim Conley, keeping watch for Frank near the building's entrance; and 6) Leo Frank in his office on the second floor about 30 feet away from Conley. The #ADL and other Frank advocates are still trying to frame Jim Conley for the crime. But Conley obviously didn't do it. Conley had just been paid more than five times what #MaryPhagan had in her purse. They want us to believe Conley killed Mary for the $1.20 she had — hardly likely. And Conley would have had to assault her right next to the unlocked front door, in the highest-traffic part of the building, where anyone could come in at any time, and where several people had walked by in just the last few minutes — and all within 30 feet and easy earshot of his boss. And all this in 1913 Atlanta, where Black men accused of attacking White girls tended to have very short life expectancies. This is not a plausible story. Leo Frank killed Mary Phagan. If the ADL gets Frank officially exonerated, as they are still trying to do today, it will be a Pyrrhic victory for them. It will be yet another reason to remember that Leo Frank, and the organized groups that defend him, are all guilty of unspeakable acts. To learn more about the Leo Frank case and the murder of little Mary Phagan, please visit: littlemaryphagan.com Mary Phagan-Kean's newly released second edition book: littlemaryphagan.com/my-new-book-is… Mary Phagan-Kean's, great niece of Mary Phagan, most recent newsletter: littlemaryphagan.com/.../PhaganFami…... Truth is on the March -- William J. Burns and the Great Leo Frank Case Carnival: littlemaryphagan.com/the-truth-is-o… #truthmatters #truecrime #Georgia #metoo #truthwins #murdermystery #OTD #onthisday

For all the dictatorial and diabolical evil he exacted on a peaceful people, I am convinced that his vision of reconstruction was less severe than that practiced by radical Republicans energized and empowered by the unjustifiable misfortune of his martyrdom.

@Jeff_Davis1808 @DWKUSMC2111 Before all is said and done, some wealthy contributor(s) will make up the difference, and the project will be completed.

Two years after SC approved a Smalls monument, only $35,000 of the $2 million has been raised. Imagine what will happen when SC's citizens discover he was convicted of fraud by a majority Black jury! #history scdailygazette.com/2026/04/24/wit…

@RealBenMichael 1/ That portrait is of Philip Ludwell I, the Bristish-born grandfather of our namesake, Virginia-born Philip Ludwell III, the Orthodox Christian to whom you’re referring.

The sex-murder of the century happened on this day in 1913 on the second floor of the National Pencil Company building in #Atlanta, a sweatshop where child laborers, mostly young girls, spent their youth making pencils, earning only pennies an hour. 13-year-old Mary Phagan was one such girl. She came that day to the office to collect her pathetically meager $1.20 pay. There she met the sweatshop’s boss and part-owner, #LeoFrank, in his office on the second floor. Frank was also the president of the Atlanta chapter of the B’nai B’rith, a #Jewish organization that would spawn the #ADL later that same year. Yes, the same ADL we know today. It was a holiday and no one else was working on that entire floor. Frank used a pretext to lure Mary to the work area in the back. He closed the doors behind them as they walked. Near the rear wall, standing in front of a metal lathe next to the toilet entrance, Leo Frank did to Mary Phagan what he, according to numerous witnesses, had often done before with his teenage girl employees: He attempted to take sexual liberties with her. She resisted. Frank knocked her down forcibly, hitting her in the eye and striking her head against the unyielding metal lathe, opening a bloody gash. While she was stunned, he pulled her garments up above her waist and raped her right on the red-stained floor in front of the toilet, as she was lying in her own flowing blood. When he was “done,” seeing the blood and doubtlessly realizing his predicament should Mary tell others of his actions, he found a piece of the twine used to pack supplies in his factory, wound it tightly around her neck, and strangled her to death. He then tore off a piece of her lace underwear, placed it around her neck as if it were a lace necklet — making sure it covered the marks of the strangling. He then summoned the factory’s Black sweeper, Jim Conley, to enlist his aid in the moving and, he hoped, the burning of Mary Phagan’s body. Conley knew that Frank liked to “chat” in private with the prettier of his young girl employees, as he had kept watch for Frank on several occasions while such “chatting” took place. And, in fact, he was keeping watch for him near the factory’s first-floor entrance at that very moment. Frank told Conley that he had struck the girl and accidentally killed her. Frank was hoping the lace “necklet” might serve to conceal the strangling — at least conceal it from Conley. It could never fool police investigators. Conley and Frank moved Mary’s body to the basement. After Mary's body was discovered, Frank and his legal team tried to frame the Black night watchman, Newt Lee, for the murder. Among other things, they forged his time card, and planted a fake bloody shirt at his residence. When that framing attempt failed, they tried to frame Jim Conley (and, 113 years later, Frank's advocates are still trying to frame him). They planted a fake “bloody club” and a forged "Mary Phagan pay envelope" near the place where Conley kept watch for Frank that day. But that forgery was exposed, too. The true evidence kept building up, and the proof was overwhelming that Frank was the killer. He was convicted and sentenced to death. But Frank had something that ordinary defendants, Black or White, never have. He was not an “ordinary citizen.” He was an important official of the city's Jewish community — the head of the Atlanta division of the B’nai B’rith. He had the massive power, money, media ownership, and political influence of the organized Jewish community nationwide behind him. They refused to let the verdict stand. They funded a multimillion-dollar legal and PR campaign to get him a new trial, to make millions of gullible people believe he was innocent and a saint-like “victim of anti-Semitism,” and to get his sentence commuted. They were only partially successful. All his numerous and expensive appeals, which went all the way up to the US Supreme Court, failed. But they continue the propaganda campaign to this very day. Never forget the life and death of Mary Phagan. Never forget that Leo Frank abused and raped her and then ended her young life. Never forget that he tried to frame two innocent Black men for the crime. And never forget that the media and the academic establishment have lied to you about this case for 113 years. To learn more about the Leo Frank case and the murder of little Mary Phagan, please visit: littlemaryphagan.com Mary Phagan-Kean's newly released second edition book: littlemaryphagan.com/my-new-book-is… Mary Phagan-Kean's, great niece of Mary Phagan, most recent newsletter: littlemaryphagan.com/.../PhaganFami…... Truth is on the March -- William J. Burns and the Great Leo Frank Case Carnival: littlemaryphagan.com/the-truth-is-o… #murder #truthwins #truecrime #OTD #onthisday #metoo #Georgia

Tootsie Pops trump Blow Pops

@ManifestHistory To be fair, my Maddox family was right across the Georgia line in Monticello, Jefferson County. My Wingates were also north Floridians in Lafayette County.

@FredBonegtr That’s wild! Your family’s been in Florida for a long time It seems

Today is Confederate Memorial Day in Florida. Even though Florida wasn’t nearly as big or populated back then, they still stepped up for the Confederate cause. Over 15,000 Floridians served in the Confederate Army, one of the highest percentage of its population among Southern states, and around 5,000 of them died during the war. Today we honor their memory and sacrifice.

War solves nothing. It simply energizers the victor 'til he himself is defeated by avarice.

"We...are the white man's party...We are for free white men, & for making white labor respectable & honorable, which it can never be when negro slave labor is brought into competition with it." -Lyman Trumbull (R-IL, 13th Amendment Author) 8/7/1858 #twitterstorians #Constitution

...heartbreaking...

Read Before History Fades. Joseph R. Stromberg's essays illuminate the untold relationship between the South and American imperialism—a narrative too often overlooked. Sharp writing. Original insights. Essential reading. Available at ShotwellPublishing.com and Amazon. shotwellpublishing.com/the-south-and-…

regarding the observance of Confederate Memorial Day on April 26 - Origin: The day was established by the Ladies' Memorial Association of Columbus, Georgia, in 1866, with April 26th chosen to mark the anniversary of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s surrender of the AoT in 1865.

OPEN LETTER TO PBS (@PBS) (@NewsHour) ABOUT IT'S BIASED DOCUMENTARY SEGMENT ON THE LEO FRANK CASE | POSTED APRIL 26, 2026 Dear PBS Board of Directors: Paula Kerger, President Chair Catherine Robb, Co-Chair Geoff Sands and Jayme Swain Members: Delores Fernandez Alonso, Mark G. Contreras, Bob Culkeen, Mildred Garcia, Anne Gates, Susan Goldberg, Chuck Hagel, Shae Hopkins, Marvin Irby, Larry Irving, Michael Isip, Gunjan Kedia, Becky Magura, Carla McCage, Sandra Cordova Micek, Luis Patino, Greg Petrowich, Vivian Riefberg, Tina Sharkey, Amy Shaw, Holden Thorp, and Ed Ulman My name is Mary Phagan-Kean (@PhaganKean). I am the great-niece and namesake of little Mary Phagan (1899 - 1913), the thirteen-year-old girl murdered at the National Pencil Company in Atlanta on April 26, 1913. [1] I am writing to express serious concern about Episode One of Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History, specifically the segment from approximately 39:36 to 46:00. [2] The program presents a highly inflammatory and contested interpretation of the Leo Frank case in a way that gives viewers the impression that key factual disputes have long been settled, when in fact some of the most important claims in that segment remain deeply disputed or are presented without necessary context. [3] One of my chief concerns is the repetition of the famous claim that crowds outside the courthouse shouted, “Hang the Jew or we’ll hang you,” at the jury. Steve Oney, whose 2003 book has often been treated as a major modern account of the case, later said plainly that this story “didn’t happen” and that it was a later embellishment that became embedded in subsequent retellings. [4] At the same time, accuracy requires another clarification as well. Frank’s lawyers did later during appeals allege hostile public sentiment and mob domination in court, but the United States Supreme Court summarized the state courts’ position as being that those allegations had been “not sustained.” [5] A documentary shown on public television should make that distinction clearly. It should not blur the line between a later allegation, a later legend, and a fact established by the official record. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the sufficiency of the evidence at Leo Frank's trial to convict him. The program also frames the undercurrent of Frank’s prosecution chiefly through antisemitism, but Frank’s own recorded statements complicate that picture and should not be omitted. In his 1914 interview with Abraham Cahan (founder of the Jewish Daily Forward), Frank said, “Anti-Semitism is absolutely not the reason for this libel that has been framed against me.” [6] That full statement matters. A fair documentary should not quote selectively in either direction, it should strive to be objective rather than an advocacy piece. It should let viewers see the complexity of the defendant’s own words rather than forcing the record into a simpler ideological paradigm. In contemporaneous reporting as well, Frank publicly blamed a Black man for the crime. [7] Leo Frank also altered Newt Lee's time card, erasing 4 timestamps to incriminate him for the Mary Phagan murder. The death notes found next to the victim, Mary Phagan, described Newt Lee physically, including a misspelled version of his job title. The legal record also deserves greater precision than the program gives it. Frank’s conviction was not left to a single unreviewed jury verdict. More than a dozen appeals and related petitions were pursued by his defense team and all failed. [8] The U.S. Supreme Court rejected his federal due process claim in Frank v. Mangum. [5] None of that, by itself, settles the historical debate for all time. But it does mean that a documentary owes viewers a careful distinction between later interpretations of the case and what the courts actually held at the time. The pardon history is also frequently misstated and should have been handled more carefully. In 1983, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles declined to grant Frank a [full] pardon [of exoneration] because it said it was impossible to decide conclusively his guilt or innocence. [9] In 1986, the board did grant a half-pardon, but it did so “without attempting to address the question of guilt or innocence.” [10] That was not a legal exoneration. [10] Any documentary that leaves viewers with the impression that innocence was officially established by the state is telling them something the pardon itself did not say. In 1995, Rabbi Steven Lebow, Philip Goldstein and others had the historical marker removed at the Phagan family grave plot because they were unhappy that the sign made clarified that Leo Frank had not been vindicated. In part 4 beginning at 20:25 of this PBS series, Mr. Gates misinformed the public about the Nation of Islam’s book series: The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews.  The Phagan family has recognized their superior scholarship with respect to the Leo Frank Case (Vol. 3) and we would challenge Mr. Gates and the producers of the PBS series to examine their 536-page work.  No other study of the case has been as comprehensive and analytical and all serious scholars of the case have acknowledged the Nation of Islam’s contribution including Dr. Jeffrey Melnick. Current efforts to revisit the case only make accuracy more important. In April 2025, a spokesperson for the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office said that the Conviction Integrity Unit had the Leo Frank case file under review and that a decision would be announced when the review was complete. If public institutions are going to revisit a 1913 conviction in 2026, then the public deserves full transparency about what new, verifiable evidence is said to justify that review. [11] My concern is not simply that your documentary took a side. My concern is that it presented a highly contested side as though it were settled history and omitted major pieces of evidence and procedure that would have helped viewers judge the matter for themselves. A PBS documentary presumably carries a high-level of public trust. That trust is weakened when a program promotes partisan advocacy and repeats disputed claims without telling viewers that even widely cited modern accounts reject some of them. When a documentary blurs the difference between allegation and proof, and when it leaves out evidence that complicates its thesis in only one favorable direction, that's propaganda, not truth seeking, that's "agitprop," not objectivity. The Leo Frank case is controversial enough without additional partisan smoothing, over simplification, or selective presentation. A public audience deserves better than a one-sided retelling dressed up as settled history. I respectfully ask that PBS and the producers correct or clarify this segment, or at minimum make room for the omitted documentary record, including the defendant’s own words, the procedural history of the appeals, and the exact language of the 1983 and 1986 pardon decisions. Thank you for your time and attention. Respectfully, Mary Phagan-Kean | Posted on X, April 26, 2026 Great-niece and namesake of Mary Phagan LittleMaryPhagan.com cc:  Mr. Henry Louis Gates Jr (@HenryLouisGate2 on X), @pbsteachers @realDonaldTrump @PressSecDOW @KingsleyCortes #LeoFrank #MaryPhagan #PBS #Atlanta #Georgia Enclosed a 1913 photo of Mary Phagan colorized with AI on April 26, 2026 References 1. HISTORY.com Editors. (2025, May 27). Murder in Atlanta pencil factory leads to lynching of Leo Frank. HISTORY. 2. Public Broadcasting Service. (2026, February 3). Let My People Go. In Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History. PBS. 3. Melnick, J. P. (2000). Black-Jewish relations on trial: Leo Frank and Jim Conley in the New South. University Press of Mississippi. @melnickjeffrey1 4. Finnigan, D. (2004, February 5). Q & A with Steve Oney. Jewish Journal. Also see Oney, S. (2013, September 24). The People v. Leo Frank. Atlanta Magazine. @steveoneywriter 5. Frank v. Mangum, 237 U.S. 309 (1915). Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center. 6. Berger, P. (2013, August 30). Leo Frank case stirs debate 100 years after Jewish lynch victim’s conviction. The Forward. Also see Telling Story of Leo Frank From His Jail Cell. The Forward. 7. Mary Phagan’s Murder Was Work of a Negro Declares Leo M. Frank. (1913, May 31). The Atlanta Constitution. ProQuest Historical Newspapers reproduction surfaced via library scan. 8. Anti-Defamation League. (2009). The People v. Leo Frank teacher’s guide. Also see National Archives. (2025, May 29). Progressive Era: Leo Frank Petition. @ADL 10. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. (1986, March 12). Leo Frank is posthumously pardoned by Georgia board. Also see Leo Frank pardon denied. (1983, December 23). The Washington Post. 11. Dinnerstein, L. (2020, August 11). Leo Frank case. New Georgia Encyclopedia. 12. Quinn, P. (2025, April 3). With Broadway’s “Parade” in Atlanta, Fulton County DA says Leo Frank case is “under review”. Atlanta News First.

@ryanswalters73 @BreannaMorello That IS quite funny!

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner shows us that the people accusing Kash Patel and Pete Hegseth of having drinking problems—actually are the ones with drinking problems.

@Repentant_0311 @PhaganKean The state is the people. The state's vacillation brought about vigilantism, and the vigilantism brought about doubt of Frank's guilt and fueled countless conspiracies. The vindicators are viewed contemporaneously as a criminal agency and serve to make Frank the victim.

@FredBonegtr @PhaganKean The state wasn't who hanged him in the first place. It was the people. The people brought justice, and it cannot be taken from them. No government piece of paper can do that.

RIP Little Mary Phagan (June 1, 1899 - April 26, 1913) #MaryPhagan #RIPMaryPhagan #Atlanta #Georgia