The Murder That Wouldn't Die: Leopold & Loeb in Artifact, Fact, and Fiction

The 1924 murder of 14-year-old Bobby Franks by Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb is an infamous piece of Chicago—and American—history. Contemporaries called it "the Crime of the Century" and it has continued to fascinate writers, film-makers, legal scholars, and their audiences ever since. 
Featured in this exhibit are many of the most critical primary-source documents related to the case, held in Northwestern University Library collections, including:

Our Leopold & Loeb collections have been used by many of the writers and researchers whose works are also included in this exhibit, including Simon Baatz's recent book For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder that Shocked Chicago, and Crimes of the Century: From Leopold & Loeb to O.J. Simpson, co-authored by Gilbert Geis and Northwestern University Law Professor Leigh B. Bienen. The story has also been interpreted by film-makers and playwrights, including Alfred Hitchcock ("Rope"), Meyer Levin ("Compulsion"), and John Logan ("Never the Sinner").
The primary materials in this exhibit offer a unique perspective on the case: the chance to hear the killers speak in their own words about what happened that May afternoon, and why; the chance to hear Clarence Darrow argue in his own words that Leopold & Loeb did not deserve to hang for what they'd done; the chance to hear Judge John Caverly  in his own words weigh the arguments on both sides—and pronounce the verdict.
We present them here for their inherent interest, and also as a vivid example of the fact that libraries not only house history books, they also preserve the materials from which history continues to be made.


Exhibits Committee
Northwestern University Library
1970 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL 60208-2300
exhibits@northwestern.edu

Last updated: February 20, 2009