The Aftermath
After Frank's lynching, the Jewish community in Atlanta was understandably frightened; after years of assimilation with little issue, one of their own was subjected to horrifying violence from a mob, and it could conceivably happen again. For years, Frank's supporters and friends refused to talk about the case at all. Frank's opponents largely kept quiet as well. The identities of the lynch mob became something of a well-known secret; it was comprised of prominent members of the Atlanta and Marietta communities, several of whom kept lists of the other members that were passed quietly down families.
Publicly, two organizations with wildly different purposes and aims stemmed from the tragedy: the Anti-Defamation League and the second Ku Klux Klan.
A modern Anti-Defamation League graphic
Anti-Defamation League
The official mission of the ADL is to "stop the defamation of the Jewish people, and to secure justice and fair treatment to all." Founded in 1913 by Sigmund Livingston in Chicago, the organization strove to fight negative stereotypes against American Jews. The Frank case and lynching highlighted the ADL's necessity.
While today the ADL still focuses primarily on combatting antisemitism, their mission also comprises work toward racial equality, immigrant and refugee rights, women's rights, LGBTQ rights, education and voting rights, and criminal justice reform.
The ADL frequently speaks out against hate crimes and identifies public figures with ties to hate groups. Their website features a comprehensive list of hate symbols.
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan's terror began well before the Frank trial, in the age of Reconstruction. However, after the implementation of Jim Crow laws, KKK membership and popularity began to die down.
However, the Frank lynching gave renewed power and potential to using fear tactics and intimidation against minority groups. Tom Watson, in his Jeffersonian, called for "another Ku Klux Klan...to restore HOME RULE" in September of 1915, and the popularity of D.W. Griffith's pro-Klan film The Birth of a Nation confirmed the desire among poor Southern whites for a revived Klan.
On 23 November 1915, fifteen men, including several of the 'Knights of Mary Phagan' that lynched Frank, ascended Stone Mountain, GA to officially revive the KKK. The youngest member was 13-years-old