Francis Fisher Kane Explained

Francis Fisher Kane (June 17, 1866March 27, 1955) was an American lawyer who served as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Family and Education

Kane was born in Philadelphia in 1866, the son of Robert Patterson Kane and Elizabeth Fisher.^[1] He was the cousin of surgeon Evan O'Neill Kane^[2] and nephew of Eckley B. Coxe.^[3] He was educated at St. Paul's School in Concord.^[4] He attended Princeton University, graduating in 1886, before getting a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.^[5]

Political career

From 1896 to 1900, Kane worked as first assistant to U.S. Attorney James M. Beck in Philadelphia.^[6] Kane was the Democratic candidate for Mayor of Philadelphia in the 1903 election, but lost to John Weaver.^[7] In September 1913, he was appointed by Woodrow Wilson as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, succeeding John C. Swartley.^[8] Kane and his office were active in investigating German-American residents of Philadelphia between 1917 and 1918 for pro-German sympathies.^[9]

Activism

Kane resigned from his position in 1920, in protest of the Palmer Raids.^[10] Kane sent a letter to A. Mitchell Palmer warning that his actions were "generally unwise and very apt to result in injustice."^[11] Two weeks after his resignation, Kane began speaking publicly about his actions in front of groups like the Young Democracy Club and the Philadelphia Club.^[12] He was active in the defense of Sacco and Vanzetti in 1927, serving on the Citizens' National Committee for Sacco-Vanzetti.^[13] Kane worked with the Voluntary Defenders' Association in the 1930s, an organization that provided legal representation for defendants who were unable to afford an attorney. He received the Philadelphia Award in 1936 because of his work with the Association.^[14]

Notes and References

1. July 1, 1955 . Francis Fisher Kane '86 . Princeton Alumni Weekly . 55 . 30 . 42.
2. News: January 2, 1933 . Pinchot and Francis Fisher Kane Named to 'Roll of Honor' . The Kane Republican . 1.
3. News: March 27, 1934 . Mrs. Coxe's Nephew Lauds Local Club . Standard-Speaker . 13.
4. News: June 26, 1896 . Good Places for Two Democrats: Kane and McCullen Named as Assistant District Attorneys . The Philadelphia Times . 1.
5. 1920 . Van Rensellaer and Allied Families . Americana . XIV . 1 . 302.
6. News: May 28, 1955 . Francis F. Kane, Attorney, Dies . January 16, 2024 . The Philadelphia Enquirer . 9.
7. Disbrow . Donald W. . January 1970 . Herbert Welsh, Editor of City and State, 1895-1904 . The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography . 94 . 1 . 71 . 20090392 . JSTOR.
8. News: September 5, 1913 . Kane is Nominated for District Attorney . The Philadelphia Inquirer . 2.
9. Kazal . Russell A. . Summer 2004 . The Interwar Origins of the White Ethnic: Race, Residence, and German Philadelphia, 1917-1939 . Journal of American Ethnic History . 23 . 4 . 84 . 10.2307/27501491 . 27501491 . 254478235 . JSTOR.
10. Book: Gentry, Curt . J Edgar Hoover: The Man And The Secrets . 2001 . W.W. Norton & Company . 9780393321289 . 98.
11. Williams . David . December 1981 . The Bureau of Investigation and Its Critics, 1919-1921: The Origins of Federal Political Surveillance . The Journal of American History . 68 . 3 . 563 . 10.2307/1901939 . 1901939 . JSTOR.
12. Book: Ackerman, Kenneth D. . Young J. Edgar : Hoover, the Red Scare, and the assault on civil liberties . Carroll & Graf . 2007 . 9780786717750 . New York . 259.
13. Book: Neville, John . Twentieth-Century Cause Cèlébre: Sacco, Vanzetti, and the Press, 1920-1927 . ABC-CLIO . 2004 . 9780313051661 . 133.
14. Book: Philadelphia: A 300 Year History . 1982 . W. W. Norton & Company . 9780393016109 . Weigley . Russell Frank . 628 . Wainwright . Nicholas B..