LEO FRANK AND MARY PHAGAN.

BY FRANKLYN BLISS SNYDER.

THE following ballad on Leo Frank and Mary Phagan comes to me from Miss Helen L. Duncan of Chicago, who took it from recitation while she was a visitor at the Muscoda Mines, Bessemer, Ala., last winter. The singer was a young Georgian who, having lost an arm, was unable to secure steady work, and drifted around the country picking up a poor living as an itinerant minstrel. Unable either to read or write, he made no claim to the authorship of what he sang, though he said he did make up some of the tunes. (He had been a guitar-player of considerable ability before his accident.) Miss Duncan tells me that before she got the ballad from this singer, she had heard it in various forms from a number of different people, among whom were several children, and that no one had ever seen it in print. I add a few notes on the accuracy of the ballad, which seems to represent a piece of folk-lore "in the making."

LEO FRANK AND MARY PHAGAN.

1. Little Mary Phagan

She left her home one day;
She went to the pencil-factory
To see the big parade.

2. She left her home at eleven,

She kissed her mother good-by;

Not one time did the poor child think
That she was a-going to die.1

3. Leo Frank he met her

With a brutish heart, we know;
He smiled, and said, "Little Mary,

You won't go home no more."

4. Sneaked along behind her

Till she reached the metal-room;"

He laughed, and said, "Little Mary,

You have met your fatal doom."

1 Stanzas I and 2 come near the truth. Mary Phagan went to the pencil-factory on Saturday, April 26, 1913, which was the Confederate Memorial Day, not "to see the big parade," but to draw a small sum due her as wages. There are distant suggestions of incremental repetition in the first four stanzas.

"The metal-room" was the name of the room in which Mary had been employed.

9. Newtley 2 was the watchman
Who went to wind his key;
Down in the basement

Little Mary he did see.

10. Went in and called the officers
Whose names I do not know;
Come to the pencil-factory,

Said, "Newtley, you must go."

II. Taken him to the jail-house,
They locked him in a cell;
Poor old innocent negro
Knew nothing for to tell.

12. Have a notion in my head,
When Frank he comes to die,
Stand examination

In a court-house in the sky.

13. Come, all you jolly people,
Wherever you may be,
Suppose little Mary Phagan
Belonged to you or me.

14. Now little Mary's mother

She weeps and mourns all day,

Praying to meet little Mary
In a better world some day.

1 The notorious Negro whose conflicting stories finally convicted Frank of the murder. Among other things, Conley swore that he helped Frank carry the dead body to the cellar. Newt Lee, the watchman, who discovered the crime, was held in jail for a time, but soon released.

15. Now little Mary's in Heaven,
Leo Frank's in jail,

Waiting for the day to come
When he can tell his tale.

16. Frank will be astonished

When the angels come to say,
"You killed little Mary Phagan;
It was on one holiday."

17. Judge he passed the sentence,
Then he reared back;

If he hang Leo Frank,

It won't bring little Mary back.

18. Frank he's got little children,
And they will want for bread;
Look up at their papa's picture,
Say, "Now my papa's dead."

19. Judge he passed the sentence,
He reared back in his chair;
He will hang Leo Frank,

And give the negro a year.1

20. Next time he passed the sentence,2
You bet, he passed it well;
Well, Solister H. M. Ooney 3

Sent Leo Frank to hell.

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY,

EVANSTON, ILL.

3

1 These were the sentences passed on Frank as principal, and Conley as accessory after the fact.

'Apparently the ballad did not appear in this form till after the sentence of the trial court had been confirmed by the State Supreme Court.

The initials are correct, but not the name.

prosecuting officer.

Solicitor-General H. M. Dorsey was the

TWENTY-NINTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.

A MEETING of members of the Council of the American Folk-Lore Society was held at the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, on Friday, Dec. 28, 1917.

It was voted that only "Journals" and self-paying "Memoirs" be issued during the forthcoming year, reserving resources for current necessary work actually in hand.

The resignation of Dr. A. M. Tozzer as Treasurer was reported, but not acted upon.

A panel of officers for the ensuing year was prepared.

A resolution to be presented to the Society on the subject of the Newell Fund was draughted.

A vote of thanks, suggested by Professor Franz Boas of New York (in absentia), was passed, appreciating the assistance rendered by the Secretary in matters of publication.

The following Reports of the Editor, Secretary, and Treasurer were read and accepted:

SECRETARY'S REPORT.

The membership of the Society, including the libraries subscribing to the Journal, is as follows:

The Secretary announces with great regret the death of Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, the "Father of English anthropology," and of Dr. Juan B. Ambrosetti of Buenos Aires, honorary members of the Society. CHARLES PEABODY, Secretary.

EDITOR'S REPORT.

During the year 1917 four numbers of the Journal have been printed, the last number for the year 1916 appeared early in the year, and three numbers for the year 1917 have been completed. The first number of the year is a French number, material for which was brought together by Mr. Barbeau. The second number is a Negro number, material for which was obtained by Mrs. Parsons. The

third number is an English number, the contents of which have been contributed largely by Professor Kittredge. The last number of the year will be devoted to Indian folk-lore.

During the present year the publication of the Memoirs of the Society has been resumed, and two Memoirs have been completed, — Volume X, "Spanish-American Folk-Songs," by Eleanor Hague; and Volume XI, "Folk-Tales of Salishan and Sahaptin Tribes," by James A. Teit, Marian K. Gould, Livingston Farrand, Herbert J. Spinden. Volume XIII, "The Folk-Tales of Andros Island, Bahamas," by Elsie Clews Parsons, is in the hands of the printer. The manuscript for Volume XII, "Filipino Popular Tales," by Dean S. Fansler, is in the hands of the Editor; and the manuscript for Volume XIV, an index to the first twenty-five volumes of the Journal, is practically completed. The Editor wishes to express his appreciation of the painstaking work done by Miss M. L. Taylor on the Index, and hopes that the printing of the volume may soon be taken up.

The publication of the scientific material offered to the Society for publication presents a number of serious problems. The size of the Journal is no longer adequate for taking care of the varied material for which we have to provide. During the past year a very large amount of English-Canadian folk-lore has been collected and edited by our indefatigable collaborator, Mr. Barbeau. This is to be printed at an early time during the coming year. Material for a new Spanish number and for a new French number is ready for the printer, and a very considerable amount of good American Indian material awaits publication. It seems quite necessary that longer papers should be relegated to supplementary volumes, and that the size of the Journal should not exceed approximately four hundred pages. With the increased cost of printing, it is quite impossible to furnish all the material printed by the Society to its members for the subscription price of three dollars.

Association International Comm. for Peace, for Hispanic Number..
Interest...

385.41

145.00

3.84

200.00

26.89 $3.733.04

Total receipts..

$3.733.04