Tattered and Lost EPHEMERA: LEOPOLD AND LOEB, and how did I get here?

I've been thinking all day about this post. Do I really want to write it? Do I in any way want to be associated with such a heinous person? I've already discovered that if a Google search of "Richard Albert Loeb" is done my blog comes up on page 3. Maybe it's too late. Cat is already out of the bag. Ephemera is once again leading me on a journey.

So let me begin.

I bought a 1919 University High School of Chicago, Illinois yearbook several years ago on eBay. I bought it because of the ad shown in yesterday's post. The ad made me laugh. The ad confused me. What was the reaction of the community when the yearbook came out and there, in a full page ad, was a boy in a dress being helped by another boy? What was the motivation of the buyer of the ad? I've never found anything about the ad. It's still a mystery. Ultimately this mystery is what led to Richard Albert Loeb, of Leopold and Loeb fame.

Typing in "Leopold + Chicago" in Google, hoping to find something about the manufacturer of the clothes in the ad, I soon discovered that when you type those words into a search the famous murderers Leopold and Loeb show up.

I remembered their names and vaguely remembered what they'd done. I started reading. As I read the wheels started turning. My brain multi-tasks all the time, usually annoying the heck out of people when I suddenly blurt out something that has nothing to do with what is going on. Brain juggling. Constantly sifting information.

Something I read made me stop and think, "I wonder if these boys went to this yearbook high school? Or maybe their family members?" I picked up the book and started flipping through the pages.

First I looked up the name "Leopold". Though there were a few Leopolds in the school they were in the freshman and sophomore classes and neither had the first name Nathan. But as I looked at the page of seniors, beginning with "L", I suddenly noticed at the bottom of the page the other name I was searching for, Loeb. And then as I looked at the face of the smiling boy, much younger than the other faces on the page, I read the name, Richard Albert Loeb. I was stunned. This book has been on my shelf for years and I had perused it many many times. I had often wondered about the faces staring back at me, wondering what became of them, if any of them in some way made a mark on society in ways the rest of us don't. Were any of them famous for something? Over the years I've looked at a lot of yearbooks in antique stores thinking maybe someone would pop out that I recognize. Suddenly I was staring at someone who was famous for all the wrong reasons.

Now, if you're still reading this and thinking, "Uhhhh..so what?" it means you are probably new to my blog and don't realize that one of the things that fascinates me about ephemera is that I like to connect the dots. I like to find out how the piece of paper I'm holding relates to history. Put another dimension to the piece by doing some "quick" research.

There's a lot to be found online about Nathan Freudenthal Leopold, Jr. and Richard Albert Loeb. I'll give a synopsis below with some links where you can read more because let's be frank, most people today have no idea who these guys were and without some information the yearbook picture means nothing.

The Friendship
Leopold and Loeb met in the spring of 1920, one year after Loeb's graduation from University High School. Loeb graduated at age 13. Leopold was 6 months older than Loeb. They had grown up in the wealthy Kenwood section of Chicago's South Side, living near to each other, but not knowing each other. While Loeb was attending University High, a prep school for the University of Chicago, Leopold was attending another prep school, Harvard School.

Richard Albert Loeb

From what I've read Loeb's personality was the stronger of the two. He had what has been described on many sites as a real Jekyl and Hyde personality.

Born Richard Albert Loeb on June 11, 1905, in Chicago, Illinois. Richard Loeb was born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth to a wealthy Jewish lawyer who went on to become a senior executive with the department store company, Sears and Roebuck. Loeb was extremely intelligent and skipped several grades at school, thanks mostly to a rather strict disciplinarian nanny.

Whether as a result of rebellion at the repressive educational regime, or some deep-seated psychological flaw, Loeb showed distinct Jekyll/Hyde characteristics from an early age. He was outwardly an affable, popular child, but also showed a more sinister side to his personality. He became an accomplished thief early on and, while recognizing that lying was wrong, readily resorted to elaborate fabrications when caught out. He developed an elaborate fantasy life as a master criminal, and his interests evolved from minor family theft to shoplifting, vandalism and arson.

Loeb was admitted to the University of Chicago at age fourteen as a result of skipping numerous grades. It was there that the friendship with Nathan Leopold began to develop. They were both considerably younger than their University contemporaries, but while Leopold was a genuine prodigy, Loeb was more a product of his nanny’s ruthless tutelage, and his studies floundered when she was no longer there to assist him. (SOURCE: Biography.com)

I also discovered this piece of information about his parents:

Albert LOEB m. Anna. Albert began his career as a lawyer and became the Vice President of Sears and Roebuck. Albert and Anna Loeb had an impressive mansion in the Kenwood section on the South Side of Chicago, two blocks away from the Leopold home, as well as a summer estate in Charlevoix, Michigan. The LOEB School and LOEB Road in Charlevoix, Michigan are named after Albert LOEB. The Loeb family of Chicago built a "castle and estate" down the road in 1900-1920, and then built this stone school as a gift for the rural children of the area. (SOURCE: loebtree.com)

Now the most interesting bio I read about Loeb is at leopoldandloeb.com. You can also read Leopold's bio there, but I'm going to mainly focus on Loeb since this whole post came about because of his picture in the yearbook. Below is the bio at the site. I encourage you to go to the site by Marianne Rackliffe and read everything she's written. Fascinating!

He was a popular boy, depending on who you asked. The girls loved him, alright. Or did they? He had these ways about him. Sure, he was good looking, sure he was rich, but sometimes he acted, well, "cuckoo". Once, he tried on all the hats at a party. Another time, he crashed his car into a carriage, almost killing a woman and suffering a concussion in the process. He drove recklessly. He drank recklessly. He lied without flinching to his parents' face. Still, when a story broke in May of 1924, that Dickie Loeb was being held in connection with the Franks boy's murder, nobody believed it, not a soul.

Richard Albert Loeb was born June 11, 1905. He was the third of four sons. His father, Albert, began his career as a lawyer and became the Vice President of Sears and Roebuck. Albert and Anna Loeb had an impressive mansion in the Kenwood section on the South Side of Chicago, two blocks away from the Leopold home, as well as a summer estate in Charlevoix, Michigan.

When Richard was four and a half, his family, like Leopold's, employed a governess. Richard's governess was a Canadian girl named Emily Struthers. Miss Struthers was a rather strict disciplinarian and also tutored Richard extensively, which led to his skipping of several grades of school.

Although they lived less than two blocks apart, Richard and Nathan attended different schools. Richard attended the Lab school and later U High; the prep school affiliated with the University of Chicago. Richard graduated from U High when he was thirteen. He was admitted to the University of Chicago in the Fall. He was excited and pleased. He felt special.

Miss Struthers had discouraged Richard from associating with boys his own age when he was younger. Because he craved excitement, he read detective stories. He was not allowed to read them so he read them secretly. He also developed the habit of lying to avoid punishment. This habit extended to his parents as well to avoid unpleasant situations. This lying evolved from a method of avoiding negative situations, to a positive method of fabrication. Instead of simply saying he was not doing something his elders did not want him to do, he would also create a positive lie about something he was doing. Thus, if his parents said "do not play cards when you go into town", he would play cards, then lie and say he hadn't, but would also create a lie about doing a positive activity they would approve of. Not only was he not playing cards, he was studying in the library.

Richard said that he felt as a child that his family "more or less neglected him". He also stated that he felt they didn't mean to, and he was sure they had his best interests at heart. Yet, the feeling remained. At about the age of nine , the same time that his brother Tommy was born, he began to steal from his older brothers, from neighbors and from shops, acting out a secret adventure akin to those in his detective stories. He played "shadow" on the street and trailed people.

When he was still very young, partly perhaps due to his strict home life and the feeling that he was unduly restricted and held back, a situation he even then thought rather odd, Richard began to develop a phantasy life revolving around himself being in jail. He would picture himself in jail, being abused, locked up, laughed at and stared at. It allowed an outlet for the feelings of low self esteem and self pity that were raging inside him, feeling as he did, that he was unloved and not allowed pleasures and excitement that other boys were.

This phantisizing began to take a more important role in his life as he grew older, his imagination becoming an outlet for the excitement he craved, but was not allowed.

The phantasies grew in importance in his life, and the flip side of his jail phantasy began to emerge; this was the Master Criminal phantasy. In the Master Criminal phantasy, Richard imagined himself the leader of a gang, or at least of one other accomplice. Dr Glueck testified during the trial that in his opinion, all Richard Loeb's phantasies showed a desire for complete power and completeness. Later interpretations of the case would focus on the "complete power" of Glueck's statement with a Nietzschian zeal, while ignoring the possibly more significant "completeness." Richard Loeb was after more than power and control over others; he desired to create a complete person, capable of living out a complete life- something he found himself incapable of doing on his own. Thus he unconsciously sought out someone who could help him achieve that completeness, a complement to himself who would be strong where he was weak, an alter ego.

Dr Bernard Glueck brought up another one of Loeb's phantasies, often overlooked by historians and even by the other defense doctors, as Glueck noted that he put on par in importance with the other phantasies; this was the "Perfect Collegian" phantasy.

in the developing and in the carrying out of his activities which is of interest and which has not been brought out by the other examiners that one phantasy that ran through a considerable period of time was what he calls the perfect collegian phantasy.

In this phantasy, Loeb pictured himself a sophomore in college, the top of the class and the most popular, a great athlete, attractive and healthy. Once again Dr Glueck says this reinforces the notion that Richard was after Completeness.

In my estimation of the situation, what this boy was after in all this phantasying was to get a sense of complete power, a sense of completeness; and the physical exhilaration that went with all this carrying on to some extent satisfied this desire for power and completeness.

Although at first he was pleased with entering college so young, as it reinforced his ego and sense of self importance, once in school, at age fourteen, now freed from the control of his governess, without anyone at home to confide in, he found himself utterly incapable of relating on an equal footing to the boys who were 4, 5 and 6 years older than him.

And there were other problems. He was a smart boy. But there was enormous pressure upon him to live up to an ideal. He was expected to be brilliant. In reality, he didn't find many of his classes interesting. In high school he cribbed off others when he could. He did not put a lot of effort into his studies. It was a doable thing with a governess who tutored him straight through school.

But college was a completely different world, even if it was only down the street.

When Richard was nine, his brother Thomas was born. This created some hostility in the household regarding Richard's mother and the governess. Miss Struthers attempted to win the Richard's affection away from his mother and, for a while, was successful. Eventually Miss Struthers was dismissed. There were no more Governesses. Mrs Loeb took a more active role in her youngest son's upbrining.

As was the case with Leopold, the governess had, at least temporarily, overshadowed the affection for the mother.

Struthers was not like Leopold's governess in the field of sex, however. While Mathilda Wantz took liberties with Nathan, Struthers avoided all discussion of sex. Richard was eleven when he learned the difference between boys and girls- from the family chauffeur.

Richard did have one friend with whom he took part in several petty delinquencies; a boy named Jack Mengal that he met at the age of five. Together they stole a flower vase from a neighborhood house. They also played strip poker and once wrestled naked on a bed. Mengal and Richard drifted apart at about the age of fourteen. Mengal wound up in Pontiac Reformatory.

Miss Struthers left during Richard's first year at the University, after having a falling out with the family. The woman who had displaced Richard's mother had felt increasingly hostile at having to care for Richard's brother Tommy. She made accusations and was dismissed from the Loeb household.

At about this time, Richard and Nathan became friends. In Nathan, Richard found the perfect partner to his criminalistic fantasies. One can also see how Leopold's own personality, characteristics, and attributes merged with Loeb- and in a sense, gave him that sense of completeness he'd been craving. Loeb described the relationship of himself and Leopold as "the complete realization" of all his dreams and phantasies.

At first their relationship was cold. Leopold stated that at first he detested Loeb and believed the feeling was mutual. Yet they apparently hung around in the same group of seven or eight boys. Eventually their relationship warmed. Perhaps it was due to the closeness in their ages verses the discrepancy between their other friends, their attending the same college, living in the same neighborhood, both being Jewish. They were so different. Yet they had everything in common.

In the Fall of 1920 Leopold entered the University of Chicago in October as a Freshman. Loeb was now a Sophomore. By February, they were what Leopold described as "firm friends". They had also begun engaging in delinquencies.

The relationship had become physical. (SOURCE: leopoldandloeb.com)

Nathan Freudenthal Leopold

And some brief bio information about Leopold:

Nathan Freudenthal Leopold Jr. was born on 19th November 1904 in Chicago, Illinois, into a wealthy family of immigrant German Jews, who had made a freight & transport-related fortune since their arrival in the United States. Reportedly a child prodigy, with an IQ of 210, Leopold spoke his first words aged just 4 months old, and amazed a succession of nannies and governesses with his intellectual precocity.

Leopold’s intelligence set him apart from his contemporaries, and the boy had difficulty making friends when he started school, a trait that continued throughout his education, made more difficult by his own superior attitude, in relation to both his family’s wealth and his own intelligence. When the family moved to the exclusive Chicago neighbourhood of Kenwood, he was transferred to the private Harvard School, and his educational development was even more rapid. It was at this time that he met Richard Loeb, although it wasn’t until he entered the University of Chicago, as a freshman in September 1920, before his sixteenth birthday, that they became what he referred to as ‘firm friends’. (SOURCE: Crime & Investigation Network)

To read about how the friendship developed and the twists and turns it took read more at leopoldandloeb.com. You'll get deep into who these guys were.

The Crime

At the time it was called the "Crime of the Century" which obviously it wasn't because there were plenty more crimes during the 20th-century with the same media label.

Leopold and Loeb decided to commit the "perfect crime." Ummmm...not so much. The two:

...became increasingly obsessed with the development and commission of the perfect crime.

On May 21, 1924, Loeb and Leopold put their plan into action, collecting a rental car, obscuring its number plates and then driving to their old alma mater, the Harvard School, in search of a convenient victim. They settled on 14-year old Bobby Franks, a neighbor of the Loebs. Lured into the car, Franks was hit over the head with a chisel by Loeb and then gagged before being hidden under some blankets on the back seat of the car. After depositing Franks’ body in a culvert at nearby Wolf Lake, they delivered the ransom note to the boy’s father, Jacob Franks. (Source: Biography.com)

Bobby Franks, the victim

And from the site trutv.com where you will also find a photo of Bobby Franks, his parents, and their mansion:

On Wednesday, May 21, 1924, fourteen-year-old Bobby Franks walked home from school by himself. A car stopped and a familiar face appeared in its open window. Bobby got in the car raced away.

Around dinner time, Bobby had not come home nor had he contacted his parents, Jacob and Flora Franks. His brother Jack and his sister Josephine had no idea where he was. Perhaps he was playing tennis at the Loebs, Jack suggested. But when his father looked over at the Loeb's tennis courts, Bobby was nowhere to be seen.

While Flora called Bobby's classmates, Jacob contacted the headmaster of the school to find out if Bobby could have gotten himself locked in the school building. He called Samuel Ettelson, a prominent lawyer and friend, to determine what to do. Ettelson and Jacob searched the entire school building, but found no sign of Bobby.

While they were gone, Flora got a phone call. A man calling himself Johnson told her, "Your son has been kidnapped. He is all right. There will be further news in the morning." Flora fainted and remained unconscious until her husband and Ettelson came home.

At two in the morning, Jacob and Ettelson went to the police, but since none of the police officials that Ettelson knew were on duty at that hour, they decided to come back later that morning.

The Franks were residents of Kenwood, a wealthy neighborhood in Chicago. They lived quietly among the Jewish elite of Kenwood, but had not been accepted socially for several reasons. They had renounced their Jewish faith to become Christian Scientists. Jacob had made much of his money running a pawnshop, which didn't recommend them socially to the powerful Jewish executives, bankers and attorneys in the neighborhood.

The next morning, the mailman arrived with a special delivery letter:

"Dear Sir:

As you no doubt know by this time, your son has been kidnapped. Allow us to assure you that he is at present well and safe. You need fear no physical harm for him, provided you live up carefully to the following instructions and to such others as you will receive by future communications. Should you, however, disobey any of our instructions, even slightly, his death will be the penalty.

1. For obvious reasons make absolutely no attempt to communicate with either police authorities or any private agency. Should you already have communicated with the police, allow them to continue their investigations, but do not mention this letter.

2. Secure before noon today $10,000. This money must be composed entirely of old bills of the following denominations: $2000 in $20 bills, $8000 in $50 bills. The money must be old. Any attempt to include new or marked bills will render the entire venture futile.

3. The money should be placed in a large cigar box, or if this is impossible, in a heavy cardboard box, securely closed and wrapped in white paper. The wrapping paper should be sealed at all openings with sealing wax.

4. Have the money with you, prepared as directed above, and remain at home after one o'clock. See that the telephone is not in use."

It was signed George Johnson and guaranteed that if the money were delivered according to his instructions that Bobby would be returned unharmed.

While Jacob went to get the money, Ettelson called his friend who was chief of detectives for the Chicago Police Department.

An enterprising newspaperman had been tipped off that there was a kidnapping involving the Franks' boy. He had also heard that a boy had been found dead in a culvert near Wolf Lake, a probable drowning victim. He relayed the description of the dead boy to Mr. Franks, who did not think it matched his son. Franks' brother-in-law went check it out.

When the telephone rang, "George Johnson" told Ettelson, "I am sending a Yellow Cab for you. Get in and go to the drugstore at 1465 East Sixty-third Street." Ettelson handed the phone to Jacob and the message was repeated. In the trauma of the events, both men immediately forgot the address of the drugstore.

The phone rang again. This time it was Jacob's brother-in-law. The boy that had been found dead in the culvert was Bobby Franks.

Here you can see the actual ransom note.

Well, it seems things began to fall apart very quickly after the crime. Their undoing? Leopold dropped his glasses at the murder scene.

Eight days after the murder, police discovered that the hinges on the pair of eyeglasses were very unique and had only been sold on three pairs of glasses in the Chicago area. One of those three pairs of glasses belonged to Nathan Leopold. (SOURCE: trutv.com)

When you read these other sites you're going to be astounded by everything that went on. The arrogance of the two of them. For example:

On Friday, May 23, Richard Loeb, a handsome nineteen-year-old University of Chicago student and neighbor of the Franks family, was at his Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house with Howard Mayer who was the campus liaison to the Evening American. Loeb suggested that they try to locate the drugstore that the kidnapper had instructed Jacob Franks to go to with the ransom money. Just as the two of them were about to check the various drugstores, two Daily News reporters, one of whom was a ZBT member, came into the fraternity house and decided to go with them.

Eventually, they found the Van de Bogert & Ross drugstore and confirmed that there had been two calls the previous day for Mr. Franks. "This is the place!" Loeb shrieked enthusiastically to the others. "This is what comes from reading detective stories."

Mulroy, one of the reporters, asked Loeb if he knew the murdered boy. Loeb told him he had, then he smiled and said, "If I were going to murder anybody, I would murder just such a cocky little son of a bitch as Bobby Franks." (Source: trutv.com)

The Trial

The two confessed to the crime. Then what?

The story of Leopold and Loeb dominated the newspapers. The Tribune explained why: "In view of the fact that the solving of the Franks kidnapping and death brings to notice a crime that is unique in Chicago's annals, and perhaps unprecedented in American criminal history, the Tribune this morning gives to the report of the case many columns of space for news, comment, and pictures.

"The diabolical spirit evinced in the planned kidnapping and murder; the wealth and prominence of the families whose sons are involved; the high mental attainments of the youths, the suggestions of perversion; the strange quirks indicated in the confession that the child was slain for a ransom, for experience, for the satisfaction of a desire for "deep plotting," combined to set the case in a class by itself."

The public was aghast at the crime and the newspapers demanded swift retribution. "It should not be allowed to hang on, poisoning our thoughts and feelings. Every consideration of public interest demands that it be carried through to its end at once," wrote the Herald and Examiner. (SOURCE: trutv.com)

With a city in an uproar, who do you think the families hired as their attorney?

..Jacob Loeb, Richard's uncle, and Benjamin Bachrach, a successful attorney, tried to find out where the boys were being held, but they were not told. The two boys were in desperate need of an attorney.

Later that evening, Jacob Loeb went to the apartment of the one of the country's most brilliant lawyers. Loeb got the sixty-seven-year-old Clarence Darrow and his wife out of bed. Darrow had made a name for himself championing the underdog and fighting capital punishment.

"Get them a life sentence instead of death," Loeb begged for his nephew and Leopold. "That's all we ask. We'll pay anything, only for God's sake, don't let them hang."

Darrow took the case, not for the fee, but by defending these two boys, he had a unique opportunity to combat the death penalty. This case was getting so much publicity around the country and the world that it was a rare chance for him to be widely heard on his capital punishment soapbox. (SOURCE: trutv.com)

To read about Darrow's stunning defense read an account written by Professor Douglas O. Linder at law.umkc.edu.

Few trial transcripts are as likely to bring tears to the eyes as that of the 1924 murder trial of Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold. Decades after Clarence Darrow delivered his twelve-hour long plea to save his young clients' lives, his moving summation stands as the most eloquent attack on the death penalty ever delivered in an American courtroom. Mixing poetry and prose, science and emotion, a world-weary cynicism and a dedication to his cause, hatred of bloodlust and love of man, Darrow takes his audience on an oratorical ride that would be unimaginable in a criminal trial today....

The trial (technically a hearing, rather than a trial, because of the entry of guilty pleas) of Leopold and Loeb lasted just over one month. The state presented over a hundred witnesses proving-- needlessly, in the opinion of many-- every element of the crime. The defense presented extensive psychiatric evidence describing the defendants' emotional immaturity, obsessions with crime and Nietzschean philosophy, alcohol abuse, glandular abnormalities, and sexual longings and insecurities. Lay witnesses, classmates and associates of Loeb, were offered to prove his belligerence, inappropriate laughter, lack of judgment, and childishness. Other lay witness testified as to Leopold's egocentricity and argumentative nature. The state offered in rebuttal psychiatrists who saw normal emotional responses in the boys and no physical basis for a finding of mental abnormality.

On August 22, 1924, Clarence Darrow began his summation for the defense in a "courtroom jammed to suffocation, with hundreds of men and women rioting in the corridors outside." As a newspaper reporter observed, the setting underscored Darrow's argument "that the court was the only thing standing between the boys and a bloodthirsty mob." For over twelve hours Darrow reminded Judge Caverly of the defendants' youth, genetic inheritance, surging sexual impulses, and the many external influences that had led them to the commission of their crime....

Two weeks later Caverly announced his decision. He called the murder "a crime of singular atrocity." Caverly said that his "judgment cannot be affected" by the causes of crime and that it was "beyond the province of this court" to "predicate ultimate responsibility for human acts." Nonetheless, Caverly said that "the consideration of the age of the defendants" and the possible benefits to criminology that might come from future study of them persuaded him that life in prison, not death, was the better punishment. He said that he was doing them no favor: "To the offenders, particularly of the type they are, the prolonged years of confinement may well be the severest form of retribution and expiation." (SOURCE: Professor Douglas O. Linder)

The Sentence

Leopold and Loeb were sentenced on September 10, 1924 and sent to Joliet penitentiary to serve out life sentences plus 99 years. Loeb was killed by another prisoner on January 28, 1936. You can read an account of that day here.

Leopold was granted parole in March of 1958.

Finally in March of 1958, after thirty-three years in prison, Leopold was released on parole. He went to live in Puerto Rico to avoid harassment by the press. There he published The Birds of Puerto Rico, obtained a masters degree at the University of Puerto Rico and worked at various positions.

In 1961, Leopold married Trudi Feldman Garcia de Queveda, a former social worker from Baltimore and widow of a Puerto Rican physician. Ten years later, in 1971, he died of a heart attack at the age of sixty-six with his wife by his side. (SOURCE: trutv.com)

And now, the yearbook

I know, all of this just to look at a lousy senior high school photo. Well, I thought it was interesting and it adds a dimension to this photo that I never knew. He looks like an ordinary boy. Nothing special about him.

Here is the page showing Loeb at the bottom.