Friday, 1st August 1913 Mrs. Callie Scott Appelbaum Attends Trial of Leo Frank; Believes in His Innocence

Atlanta Journal
August 1st, 1913

A woman sat among the spectators at the Frank trial Thursday afternoon, a pretty blue-eyed woman neatly clad in a white shirtwaist and black skirt.

"Four months ago," she was thinking, "I was in the position of that boyish-limbed youth over there. Four months ago, I, too, was accused of murder, was on trial for my life. Four months ago men and women came to stare at me, even as I am staring at him now."

The woman was Mrs. Callie Scott Appelbaum, who was freed last spring of the charge of slaying her husband in the Dakota hotel.

"This is the second time in my life," she said Thursday afternoon, "that I have been in a court room. The first time was when I myself was on trial, so of course I know just how it feels. Believe me, I can sympathize with Mr. Frank, and I do."
Mrs. Appelbaum says she has been living in Atlanta for several months, working at a beauty parlor, and that Thursday was the first time she was able to get somebody else to take her place so she could come to the trial.

"I believe in his innocence, for a man like that could never do the thing he is accused of."

All through the afternoon Mrs. Appelbaum sat in the court room, her intent expression showing that she was greatly interested in every phase of the testimony.

"Yes," she said, as court adjourned for the afternoon. "I am coming again just as soon as I can. You see, it is much better to be a spectator than a prisoner."