Journalist Britt Craig, Atlanta Constitution, Mary Phagan, Sun, Apr 27, 1913, Atlanta, GA - 13-Yr-Old Mary Phagan Executed documents the horrific event that shook Atlanta on that Sunday morning. Night watchman Newt Lee found 13-year-old Mary Phagan’s body in the National Pencil Company basement, sparking a rapid police response. Craig, on site with Officers Dobbs, Starnes, and Black within ten minutes, described Phagan’s face coated in soot and shavings, a severe head injury, and a cord around her neck. Her lavender dress, marked by blood and urine, and the absence of one shoe pointed to a savage assault. Police debated her race due to the debris, confirming her whiteness after adjusting her stocking. Two factory letterhead notes hinting at “a long tall black negro” fueled suspicion. Lee’s custody for questioning initiated the investigation, as Atlanta mourned. Craig’s Atlanta Constitution special extra edition fueled public demand for answers, framing a 1913 case rife with racial undertones.
