Henry A. Alexander, Sr. Family Papers

Henry Aaron Alexander was born in Atlanta, Georgia on October 10, 1874, the son of Julius Mortimer Alexander and Rebecca Ella Solomons Alexander. His grandfather Aaron Alexander was the first Jew of American birth to settle in Atlanta. Henry Alexander attended the University of Georgia and received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1895. He was a member of the Georgia General Assembly from 1909-1910. In 1914 he was asked to help in the appeals process for Leo M. Frank, a Jew convicted for the murder of 13 year old Mary Phagan, a worker in the factory where Frank was superintendent. The evidence against Frank was circumstantial and the Governor ultimately commuted his death sentence. Angered by the commutation, a group of men broke into the prison where Frank was held, drove him to Marietta, and lynched him. The murder of Frank had a long lasting affect on Alexander who was not only his attorney, but had also become a trusted friend. Following the trial Henry served as a captain of the United States Army during World War I, and in 1921 he married Manya Zelmanova Klinitzkaya (later known as Marian Kline Alexander), the daughter of Solomon bar Leib Klinitsky, a recognized Talmudic scholar. The Alexanders had four children, Henry Jr. (1923-2005), Rebecca (1926-2004), Esther (1930-2005), and Judith (1931-2004). Throughout the years Henry remained active in both general and Jewish community activities and was a founder of the Atlanta Historical Society, a member of the Disabled Emergency Officers of World War I, president of the United Hebrew School, treasurer of the Jewish Welfare Fund and a member of the advisory board of the Union of Sephardic Congregations in New York. Henry Alexander died and was buried in Atlanta in 1967.