Helen Clevenger

{{Infobox person

|name = Helen J. Clevenger

|image =

|image_size =

|caption =

|birth_date = {{Birth date|1917|11|04}}

|birth_place = Washington, D.C.

|death_date = {{Death date|1936|07|16}}

|death_place = Asheville, North Carolina

|death_cause = Gun shot

|resting_place =

|resting_place_coordinates =

|nationality = American

|education =

|occupation =

|parents =

|footnotes =

}}

Helen Clevenger (November 4, 1917 – July 16, 1936) was member of the Bahá'í Faith and an American college student murdered in Asheville, North Carolina, on July 16, 1936.

Early life and education

Helen Irene Clevenger was born November 4, 1917, in Washington, DC, to Joseph F. Clevenger and Mary, née Desbach/Dresbach.{{cite web

| title = Helen I. Clevenger Death • North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994

| url =https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FGSR-SB2

| website =FamilySearch.org

| date = Jul 19, 1936

| access-date =Jun 12, 2021}}{{registration required}} Both parents were born in Ohio and married in 1902 in Columbus, while they were employed as teachers.{{cite web

| title =Joseph Franklin Clevenger Marriage • Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016

| url =https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZY8-78Q

| website =FamilySearch.org

| date = 1 Jul 1902

| access-date =Jun 12, 2021}} Using materials from Ohio Joseph created a study of Phyllachora fungi he published in 1905 as well as a brief article on using hydrochloric acid to prepare slides.

{{cite journal|title=Hydrofluoric acid for marking slides|journal=The Ohio Naturalist |volume=5|number=3|url= https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/1426 |date=Jan 1905|publisher=Biological Club of the Ohio State University|page=272|hdl=1811/1426 }}
{{cite journal

| last =Clevenger

| first =Joseph F.

| title =Notes on Some North American Phyllachoras

| journal = The Journal of Mycology

| volume = 11

| issue =4

| pages =159–164

| date =Jul 1905

| jstor =3752889

| doi=10.2307/3752889

}} Infants of the Clevengers had died in 1910 and 1915 while they were living in Chicago and then back in Ohio.

{{cite web

| title =Joseph F Clevenger Mentioned in the Death Record of William Harvey Clevenger (Joseph F Clevenger's Son) Death • Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1871-1998

| url =https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N7DW-TH2

| website =FamilySearch.org

| date = 16 Nov 1910

| access-date =Jun 12, 2021}}{{registration required}}

{{cite web

| title = Joseph F. Clevenger Mentioned in the Death Record of Dora Marie Clevenger (Joseph F. Clevenger's Daughter) Death • Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953

| url =https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8FX-H62

| website =Familysearch.org

| date = 2 Oct 1915

| access-date =Jun 12, 2021}}{{registration required}} In between Joseph was a teacher in a college while they lived in Chicago.{{cite web

| title = Joseph F Clevenger • United States Census

| url =https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKCW-KBW

| website =FamilySearch.org

| date = Apr 26, 1910

| access-date =Jun 12, 2021}}{{registration required}} By 1918 Joseph was visible working from DC with the Pharmacognosy Laboratory of the Department of Chemistry, in the Department of Agriculture, often publishing with Clare Olin Ewing until she left the department in 1919.

{{cite journal

|last1= Ewing

|first1=Clare Olin

| last2 =Clevenger

| first2 =Joseph F.

| title =So-Called Syrian Alkanet, Macrotomia Cephalotes

| journal = The Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association

| volume =7

| issue =7

| pages =591–594

| date =July 1918

| doi =10.1002/jps.3080070707 |url= https://doi.org/10.1002/jps.3080070707

| access-date = Jun 12, 2021}}

{{cite journal

|last1= Ewing

|first1=Clare Olin

| last2 =Clevenger

| first2 =Joseph F.

| title =Piptostegia Root, Piptostegia Pisonis Mart., so-called "Brazilian Jalap"

| journal =The Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association

| volume =7

| issue =10

| pages =855–858

| date =October 1918

|doi=10.1002/jps.3080071007

}}

{{cite journal

|last1= Ewing

|first1=Clare Olin

|last2= Stanford

|first2=Ernest E.

| last3 =Clevenger

| first3 =Joseph F.

| title =Conium Maculatum L., and Aethusa Cynapium L., an Adulterant

| journal =The Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association

| volume = 8

| issue =5

| pages =385–390

| date =May 1919

|doi=10.1002/jps.3080080505

}}

{{cite journal

| last1 =Clevenger

| first1 =Joseph F.

|last2= Ewing

|first2=Clare Olin

| title =Santolina chamaecyparissus L., an adulterant of matricaria chamomilla L.

| journal =The Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association

| volume =8

| issue =7

| pages =536–538

| date =July 1919

|doi=10.1002/jps.3080080705

}}

{{cite journal

| last1 =Clevenger

| first1 =Joseph F.

|last2= Ewing

|first2=Clare Olin

| title =Partial Analyses of 330 American Crude Drugs

| journal =The Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association

| volume =8

| issue =12

| pages =1010–1029

| date =December 1919

|doi=10.1002/jps.3080081206

}} Joseph registered for WWI draft September 12, 1918, in DC.{{cite web

| title =Joseph Franklin Clevenger Military • United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

| url =https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZFW-8ZL

| website =FamilySearch.org

| date = Sep 12, 1918

| access-date = Jun 12, 2021}}{{registration required}} The Clevengers were living on 5th St NW and he was employed in the Bureau of Chemistry in the Department of Agriculture. In 1920 the Clevenger family was still there along with three other roomers in 1920.{{cite web

| title =Helen Irene Clevenger • United States Census

| url =https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNG9-B58

| website = FamilySearch.org

| date = Jan 7, 1920

| access-date =Jun 12, 2021}}{{registration required}} Joseph continued working with the Pharmacognosy Laboratory in DC through 1925.

{{cite journal

| last2 =Clevenger

| first2 =Joseph F.

| last1 = Viehoever

| first1 =Arno

| title =Relative content of volatile oil and ash in sage leaves and stems

| journal =Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association

| volume =9

| issue = 6

| pages =563–567

| date =June 1920

|doi=10.1002/jps.3080090605

}}

{{cite journal

| last =Clevenger

| first =Joseph F.

| title =A Report on the Zamia Starch Situation

| journal =The Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association

| volume =10

| issue = 11

| pages =837–840

| date =November 1921

|doi=10.1002/jps.3080101106

}}

{{cite journal

| last2 =Clevenger

| first2 =Joseph F.

| last1 = Viehoever

| first1 =Arno

| title =Domestic and Imported Veratrum (Hellebore), Veratrum Virid AIT., Veratrum Californicum Durand, and Veratrum Album L. II. Chemical Studies

| journal =The Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association

| volume =11

| issue =3

| pages =166–174

| date = March 1922

|doi=10.1002/jps.3080110303

}}

{{cite journal

| last1 = Capen

| first1 =Ruth G

| last2 =Clevenger

| first2 =Joseph F.

| title =Preliminary Report on Methods for Moisture in Crude Drugs

| journal =Journal of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists

| volume =8

| issue = 5

| page =555

| date =15 August 1925

|doi=10.1093/jaoac/8.5.555

}}

{{cite journal

| last =Clevenger

| first =Joseph F.

| title =Preliminary Report on Melting Points

| journal =Journal of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists

| volume = 8

| issue =5

| page =566

| date =15 August 1925

|doi=10.1093/jaoac/8.5.566

}} In 1927 Joseph finished a map of the travels of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, founders of the Bahá'í Faith, published in volume 2 of The Bahá'í World as approved of by Shoghi Effendi,

{{cite book

| last =Clevenger

| first =Joseph F.

| title = Baha'i World|chapter=Map showing travels…, (by J. F. Clevenger,)

| publisher =Bahá'í Publishing Committee

| series =Biennial International Record

| volume =2

| date =1928

| location =New York, NY

| page =192

| url =https://bahai.works/Bahá’%C3%AD_World/Volume_2 |chapter-url=https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:BW_Volume2.pdf&page=209

| oclc= 59428606}}

{{cite news

| title =New Bahá'í publications

| newspaper =Baha'i News

| page =5

| date =Jan 1928 |number=21

| url =https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_21.pdf&page=5

| access-date =Jun 12, 2021}} then head of the religion.

In 1930 the Clevengers owned a home worth $5500 in 1930 dollars, (over $88000 in 2021 dollars{{cite web

| title = US Inflation Calculator

| url =https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

| website =usinflationcalculator.com

| date = 2021

| access-date =Jun 12, 2021}}) on Howton Ave in the unincorporated town of Great Kills, Staten Island, and he was employed as a scientist with the federal government.{{cite web

| title =Helen Clevenger • United States Census

| url =https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X45T-Y3G

| website =FamilySearch.org

| date = Apr 8, 1930

| access-date = Jun 12, 2021}}{{registration required}} By January 1932 Joseph was visible as a pharmacognosist at the New York Station of the Federal Food and Drug Administration in which he continued service into at least 1935.

{{cite journal

| last =Clevenger

| first =Joseph F.

| title =Preliminary investigation of certain physical and chemical properties of the volatile oils from authentic plant products

| journal =The Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association

| volume =21

| issue =1

| pages =30–34

| date =January 1932

|doi=10.1002/jps.3080210108

}}

{{cite journal

| last =Clevenger

| first =Joseph F.

| title =Chemical and Physical Determinations on the Gum and Volatile Oil of Asafœtida

| journal =The Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association

| volume =21

| issue =7

| pages =668–670

| date =July 1932

|doi=10.1002/jps.3080210704

}}

{{cite journal

| last =Clevenger

| first =Joseph F.

| title =Volatile Oils in Mace and Nutmegs

| journal =Journal of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists

| volume =1

| issue =4

| pages =611–616

| date =15 November 1935

|doi=10.1093/jaoac/18.4.611

}}

Clevenger had been raised a member of the Bahá'í Faith, the religion of the family,{{cite news

| title =Chemist drafts Clevenger clue report to cops

| newspaper =The Record

| location =Hackensack, New Jersey

| page =3

| date =31 Jul 1936

| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79236802/on-murder-of-bahai-helen-clevenger/

| access-date =Jun 12, 2021}} and graduated from Tottenville High School in 1934.{{cite news |title=Suspect Is Hunted in Co-ed's Murder |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1936/07/18/93524909.pdf |work=The New York Times |date=1936-07-18 |pages=1, 6}} She was a member of the school honors association Arista, editor in chief of the high school Digest and Valedictorian.{{cite news

| title = Grief fills home

| newspaper =The Bradenton Herald

| location = Bradenton, Florida

| pages =1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79418717/on-murder-of-bahai-helen-clevenger-ii/ 10]

| date =17 Jul 1936

| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79418701/on-murder-of-bahai-helen-clevenger-i/

| access-date =Jun 12, 2021}} She was one of 76 students receiving a certificate for participating in high school math competition for New York,{{cite news

| title =DeWitt Clinton wins 'math' price: 76 High School Students Get Certificates in the Pi Mu Epsilon Tourney

| newspaper =New York Times

| location =New York, N.Y.

| page =N2

| date =13 May 1934

| url =https://www.nytimes.com/1934/05/13/archives/de-witt-clinton-wins-math-prize-76-high-school-students-get.html

| access-date = Jun 12, 2021}} and July 1 was announced as one of 39 students awarded scholarships at New York University for the 1936-7 school year.{{cite news

| title =N.Y.U. students get $5,200 scholarships: Awards to 39 Undergraduates at Washington Square College Announced by Dean Loomis

| newspaper =New York Times

| location =New York, N.Y.

| page =23

| date =1 July 1936

| url =https://www.nytimes.com/1936/07/01/archives/nyu-students-get-5200-scholarships-awards-to-39-undergraduates-at.html

| access-date =Jun 12, 2021}} She continued her education at New York University, planning to follow her father as a chemist. The family lived on Howton Ave, on Staten Island.

Death and aftermath

Helen's father said "… for fear I was binding my daughter too much to my life and my ideas, I arranged for her to visit her relatives in North Carolina and travel some with her uncle Billy."{{cite news

| title = Father had dream his daughter faced peril

| newspaper =The Citizen-Times

| location =Asheville, North Carolina

| pages =1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79601459/fathers-dream-on-murder-of-bahai/ 8]

| date =23 Jul 1936

| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79601449/fathers-dream-on-murder-of-bahai/

| access-date = }} She was then in Asheville, North Carolina, traveling with her uncle, William Leander Clevenger,{{cite web |title=Clevenger, W. L. (William Leander), 1881-1951 |url=https://d.lib.ncsu.edu/collections/names/1713-clevenger-william-leander |website=NC State University Libraries' Rare and Unique Digital Collections |access-date=9 August 2022}} 1881-1951, a professor at North Carolina State College.{{cite news |last1=Acuff |first1=Lloyd |title=CO-ED'S UNCLE HELD FOR QUESTIONING; WOLLNER IS FREED; Prof. Clevenger Is Detained on Return to Asheville From Her Funeral in Ohio. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/07/25/archives/coeds-uncle-held-for-questioning-wollner-is-freed-prof-clevenger-is.html |access-date=9 August 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=25 July 1936}}{{closed access}} While in Asheville, Clevenger was murdered. Clevenger's "upturned face was a bloody pulp". Clevenger's death certificate noted she died of a gunshot wound by a .32 caliber bullet through an autopsy while at the Battery Park Hotel with the name Helen I. Clevenger of Great Kills, Staten Island, NY, and died July 16, 1936, around 1am. She was found wearing a Bahá'í ring with the ringstone symbol. Inquiries with the Bahá'ís based on the coverage were noted in New York.{{cite news

| title = The publication in…

| newspaper =Baha'i News |number=103

| location =

| page =1

| date =Oct 1936

| url =https://bahai.works/File:Baha%27i_News_103.pdf

| access-date =Jun 12, 2021}}

By July 23 press coverage was already significant with reporters phoning or telegraphing stories in across the nation.{{cite news

| title =Much sent on murder by press

| newspaper =Asheville Citizen-Times

| location =Asheville, North Carolina

| page =8

| date =23 Jul 1936

| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79601406/on-murder-of-bahai-helen-clevenger/

| access-date =Jun 15, 2021}} London papers called about the story and it was reported European papers had the news in their newspapers too.{{cite news

| title = London paper 'phones Brown about arrest

| newspaper = The Citizen-Times

| location =Asheville, North Carolina

| pages =6

| date =11 Aug 1936

| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79249759/on-murder-of-bahai-helen-clevenger/

| access-date =Jun 17, 2021}} The local police interviewed many witnesses and possible suspects in the killing before finally arresting a relatively-new,{{cite web |last1=Joynes |first1=Dorothy |title=Booker T. Sherrill |url=http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/oralhistory/VOA/S_Z/Sherrill_B.html |website=Voices of Asheville Oral History Collection |publisher=D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville |access-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020717014324/http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/oralhistory/VOA/S_Z/Sherrill_B.html |archive-date=17 July 2002}} 22-year-old negro hotel night janitor, Martin Moore.{{cite news |title=Clevenger slayer gets quick hearing; Negro Is Arraigned Secretly in Asheville on Two Charges Carrying Death Penalty |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/08/11/archives/clevenger-slayer-gets-quick-hearing-negro-is-arraigned-secretly-in.html |work=The New York Times |date=1936-08-11 |page=15 }}{{closed access}} Moore claimed that he was beaten by detectives into giving a written confession when he was really innocent.{{cite web |title=Sep 24 1936, Page 3 |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/mount-airy-news-sep-24-1936-p-3/ |website=Mount Airy News |date=September 24, 1936 |publisher=Newspaper Archive |access-date=9 August 2022}}{{closed access}}{{cite news |title=Co-Ed's Slayer Gets Review |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/09/24/archives/coeds-slayer-gets-review.html |quote=Full text is unavailable for this digitized archive article. Subscribers may view the full text of this article in its original form through TimesMachine. |work=The New York Times |date=1936-09-24 |page=9 }}{{closed access}} Moore was executed in the gas chamber in Raleigh, North Carolina, on December 11, 1936.{{cite news |title=Slayer of Co-ED dies in lethal gas room; Moore Is Executed at Raleigh for Killing Helen Clevenger of Staten Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/12/12/archives/slayer-of-coed-dies-in-lethal-gas-room-moore-is-executed-at-raleigh.html |page=9 | date=1936-12-12 | access-date=2010-05-04 | work=The New York Times}}{{closed access}}{{cite news |title=Today in Asheville history: Moore executed for Clevenger murder |url=https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/12/11/today-asheville-history-moore-executed-clevenger-murder/77106650/ |access-date=9 August 2022 |work=Asheville Citizen Times}}{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Anne Chesky |title=WNC History: Story behind the accused murderer in 1936 Battery Park Hotel homicide |url=https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2022/06/12/wnc-history-story-accused-murderer-battery-park-hotel-1936/7533494001/ |access-date=9 August 2022 |work=The Asheville Citizen Times}}{{cite web |last1=Calder |first1=Thomas |title=New book explores 1936 slaying at the Battery Park Hotel |url=https://mountainx.com/arts/new-book-explores-1936-slaying-at-the-battery-park-hotel/ |website=Mountain Xpress |access-date=9 August 2022 |date=August 19, 2021}}

The sheriff informed newspaper reporters on Sunday August 9 and some had paid for access to the story.{{cite news

| author=James M. Rogers

| title = Bringing in your news

| newspaper = Asheville Citizen-Times

| location =Asheville, North Carolina

| pages =13, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/27286556/19371003asheville-citizen/ 14]

| date =3 Oct 1937

| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79477985/journalist-career-comment-on-murder-of/

| access-date =Jun 13, 2021}} The photographer for the newspaper coverage of the confession and re-enactment was the only job he ever did as a photographer.{{cite news

| author=J. P. Brady

| title =Sold only roll he has ever exposed - Martin shot Clevenger case pictures

| newspaper =Asheville Citizen-Times

| location =Asheville, North Carolina

| pages =29

| date =20 Apr 1958

| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79281416/on-murder-of-bahai-helen-clevenger/

| access-date = Jun 13, 2021}} A multi-page review of the case was published in 1942.{{cite news

| author= Peter Levins

| title = When Justice Triumphed

| newspaper =Daily News

| location = New York, New York

| pages =382, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79360030/review-of-murder-case-of-bahai-helen/ 383], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79360094/review-of-murder-case-of-bahai-helen/ 384]

| date =3 May 1942

| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79360009/review-of-murder-case-of-bahai-helen/

| access-date = Jun 13, 2021}} Her mother died in 1943 after years of medical complications

{{cite news

| title =In Memoriam

| newspaper =Baha'i News |number=161

| page =8

| date = Mar 1943

| url =https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_161.pdf&page=8

| access-date =Jun 14, 2021}}

{{cite news

| last =

| first =

| title = Mary Clevenger rites on Friday

| newspaper =The Piqua Daily Call

| location =Piqua, Ohio

| page =7

| date =28 Jan 1943

| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79870693/obit-bahai-mary-dresbach-clevenger/

| access-date =Jun 19, 2021}} and her father in 1945,{{cite news

| title = In Memoriam

| newspaper =Baha'i News |number=177

| page =6

| date =Nov 1945

| url =https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_177.pdf&page=6

| access-date =Jun 14, 2021}} retired from the government job about a year.{{cite news

| title =Joseph Clevenger dies unexpectedly at Washington, DC

| newspaper =The Piqua Daily Call

| location =Piqua, Ohio

| page =8

| date =12 Jul 1945

| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79869194/obit-bahai-joseph-clevenger/

| access-date = Jun 19, 2021}}

Dr. Gael Graham, Western Carolina University faculty and peer-review editor of The Journal of the North Carolina Association of Historians, observed that "…the irony of the case ["the search for her killer, and the rapid identification, trial, and execution of the African American accused"] lay in Clevenger membership in the Bahai’i(sic) Faith.… American Bahais (sic) were strikingly at odds with most other mainstream religions in their resolute affirmation of human equality. The [initiatives of the community versus the context of society] of the former Confederate south is astonishing. [The death of] Moore contravened the principles by which Helen Clevenger had lived her life."{{cite journal

| last = Graham

| first = Gael

| title = Editor's Note

| journal = The Journal of the North Carolina Association of Historians

| volume = 31

| pages = xi-xii

| publisher =North Carolina Association of Historians

| date = Sep 2023 |editor-first=Gael |editor-last=Graham

| issn = 1078-4330

| oclc = 52634307

| quote = In the third article, we return to early 20th-century North Carolina. The article “The Life, Faith and Death of Helen Clevenger, 1917-1936" by Steven Kolins, focuses on the murder of a young woman four months shy of her nineteenth birthday on her first (and last) visit to North Carolina. Newspapers across the country and even in England sensationalized Helen Clevenger’s death in Asheville in 1936, the search for her killer, and the rapid identification, trial, and execution of the African American accused, Martin Moore—only 22 years old himself. While Kolins notes that this can be framed as yet another example of the Jim Crow “justice” that characterized the South in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the irony of the case lay in Clevenger membership in the Bahai’i(sic) Faith.
In 1936, few Americans knew much about the Bahai’i(sic) Faith and the few newspapers that commented on this aspect of Clevenger’s life often reported inaccurately. Kolins provides a history of the religion in the US, touching briefly on its origins in Persia. American Bahais (sic) were strikingly at odds with most other mainstream religions in their resolute affirmation of human equality. The faith established roots early among African Americans in Washington, D.C. and spread to both blacks and whites in other cities as well. In 1921, the religion’s head, ‘Abdu’l-Baha, asked the various congregations - all of them integrated - to begin holding “Race Amity” meetings, where members could openly discuss race and racism. That this occurred in the context of President Woodrow Wilson resegregating the capital city and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan outside of the former Confederate south is astonishing. Kolins documents the Clevenger family’s active membership in the group, and young Helen's likely attendance at its youth events. By so doing, he highlights the fact that state-sanctioned revenge against Moore contravened the principles by which Helen Clevenger had lived her life.}}

=Dramatizations=

Dramatizations were written up in true crime magazines starting in October 1936 including True Detective* {{cite magazine

| title =Rapist Murder of Co-Ed Clevenger

| magazine = Official Detective Stories

| date =15 Oct 1936

| url =https://archive.org/details/RapistMurderOfCo-edClevenger/clevenger001

| access-date =Jun 12, 2021}}

{{cite magazine

| title =(cover)

| magazine =True Detective Mysteries

| date =November 1936

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612163027/https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/true-detective-mysteries-november-1821951884

|archive-date=12 June 2021

| url =https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/true-detective-mysteries-november-1821951884

| access-date =Jun 12, 2021}} A version was written and approved of by the sheriff in a radio drama aired in April and July 1937.

{{cite web

| title = Helen Clevenger Case; True Detective Mysteries

| url =https://www.com/crime/true-detective-mysteries/helen-clevenger-case-1937-04-22

| website =oldtimeradiodownloads.com

| date = April 22, 1937

| access-date =}}

{{cite web

| title = True Detective Mysteries; The Helen Clevenger Case

| url =https://www.vintagebroadcast.com/category/index/273

| website = vintagebroadcast.com

| date = July 3, 1937

| access-date = Jun 12, 2021}} A 2014 play was written on the incident.{{cite book

| last =Huffman

| first =Felicia A.

| title =Battery Park

| date =2014

| publisher =CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

| isbn =9781494914196}}

Modern interest

Literature present ghost stories mentions Clevenger haunts where she was killed, the Battery Park Hotel, now Battery Park Apartments since 1996

{{cite book |first1=Ken |first2=Delas M. |last2=House |last1=Traylor |title=Asheville Ghosts and Legends |publisher=The History Press |year=2006 |isbn=1-59629-156-7 |pages=80–83 |chapter=The Spirits of the Battery Park Hotel |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WZHiEzbSTK4C&pg=PA80 }} and up to 2015.

{{cite web

| title =Ghost Hunters of Asheville, Historic Montford and Black Mountain @GhostHuntersofAsheville · Tour Agency

| url =https://www.facebook.com/GhostHuntersofAsheville/posts/helen-clevenger-19-was-murdered-on-july-16-1936-at-ashevilles-battery-park-hotel/1035398599823903/

| website =Facebook.com

| date = October 4, 2015

| access-date =Jun 17, 2021}}

{{cite book|author=Joshua P. Warren|title=Haunted Asheville|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gNqd0x1bI7QC&pg=PA67|year=1996|publisher=The Overmountain Press|isbn=978-1-57072-310-0|pages=67–77}}

The Asheville "Tourism Center and Free Museum" run by Joshua P. Warren in 2010 had an exhibit on Clevenger as an unsolved murder.{{cite news

| last =Sandford

| first = Jason

| title =Macabre museum

| newspaper =The Citizen-Times

| location =Asheville, N.C.

| pages =T5

| date =31 Dec 2010

| url =

| access-date = }} Anne Chesky Smith of the University of Georgia has presented in academic circles on the murder, trial, and Moore's execution, in 2016.

{{cite conference

| first =Anne Chesky

| last = Smith

| title =The Execution of Martin Moore: Racial Injustice in the 1930s U.S. Justice System

| book-title =Voices from the Misty Mountains: Diversity and unity, a new Appalachia

| pages =

| publisher =Appalachian Studies Association

| date =2016

| location =

| url =https://mds.marshall.edu/asa_conference/2016/accepted_proposals/3/

| access-date =Jun 12, 2021}}

Smith, Anne Chesky. 2016. “The Execution of Martin Moore.” Now & Then: The Appalachian Magazine 31, no. 2 (Winter): 5-7.

The Citizen-Times newspaper of Asheville has referred to the case a few times: 2015{{cite news

| title = Today in Asheville history: Moore executed for Clevenger murder

| newspaper =The Citizen-Times

| location =Asheville, NC

| date =Dec 11, 2015

| url =https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/12/11/today-asheville-history-moore-executed-clevenger-murder/77106650/

| access-date =Jun 17, 2021}} and 2019.{{cite news

| author=Mackensy Lunsford

| title =Spooky tales of real Asheville murder, hauntings and bloody battles

| newspaper =The Citizen-Times

| location =Asheville, NC

| date =Oct 24, 2019

| url =https://www.citizen-times.com/story/entertainment/dining/2019/10/23/bloody-history-real-life-tales-asheville-mysteries-and-murder/3988376002/

| access-date =Jun 17, 2021}} So did the New York Daily Times in 2017.{{cite news

| author=David Krajicek

| title = NYU student's killer rushed to execution in just 5 months in 1936

| newspaper = Daily News

| location =New York

| date =Jul 30, 2017

| url =https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/nyu-student-killer-rushed-execution-5-months-1936-article-1.3368737

| access-date =Jun 17, 2021}} There is also speculation it was a case of mistaken identity in 2017,{{cite web

| title = Murder at the Battery Park |author=Amy C. Manikowski

| url =https://ashevillehistoricinns.wordpress.com/2017/09/02/murder-at-the-battery-park/

| website =Asheville Historic Inns, Western North Carolina Historical Association

| date = September 2, 2017

| access-date =Jun 12, 2021}} and referred to in another short-fiction contest story.{{cite news

| author=Alli Marshall

| title =Read this year's Indie 500 flash fiction contest winners

| newspaper = Mountain Xpress

| location =Asheville, NC

| date = August 30, 2017

| url =https://mountainx.com/arts/read-this-years-indie-500-flash-fiction-contest-winner/

| access-date =Jun 17, 2021}} The Southern Mysteries podcast carried the case in 2019,{{cite episode

| title = Murder At The Battery Park Hotel

| url =https://southernmysteries.com/2019/08/19/helenclevenger/

| series = Southern Mysteries

| credits =Shannon Ballard

| air-date = August 19, 2019

| number =51}} as did history focused review with a point of view on the case,{{cite web

| title =A good room cost $1.50 a night and a corner room $3 |author= Dave Tabler

| url =https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2019/08/good-room-cost-150-night-and-corner.html

| website =Appalachianhistory.net

| date = August 1, 2019

| access-date =Jun 17, 2021}} with a third in 2020.{{cite web

| title =The Murder of Helen Clevenger |author= F.A. Huffman

| url =https://macabreatmidnight.com/2020/07/25/the-murder-of-helen-clevenger/

| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20210124022016/https://macabreatmidnight.com/2020/07/25/the-murder-of-helen-clevenger/

| archive-date =January 24, 2021

| website =Macabreatmidnight.com

| date = Jul 25, 2020

| access-date = Jun 17, 2021}} In 2021 Anne Chesky Smith published a scholarly history of the case: what is objectively known of the murder, the trial, a likely suspect, and what happened to Martin Moore and his body afterwards.{{cite book

| last =Smith

| first = Anne Chesky

| author-link =

| title =Murder at Asheville's Battery Park Hotel: the search for Helen Clevenger's killer

| publisher = History Press US

| date =2021

| isbn =9781467145602

| oclc= 1252763042 }} In 2023, a scholarly article published in a peer-reviewed journal summarized Clevenger's life growing up, her and her family's participation in the Bahá'í communities of Washington DC and New York city, and the religious norms they lived by.{{cite journal

| last = Kolins

| first = Steven

| author-link =

| title = The Life, Faith, and Death of Helen Clevenger (1917-1936)

| journal = The Journal of the North Carolina Association of Historians

| volume = 31

| pages = 43–68

| publisher =North Carolina Association of Historians

| date = Sep 2023 |editor-first=Gael |editor-last=Graham

| issn = 1078-4330

| oclc = 52634307 }}