Embedded Files
Ongoing "transcription of the transcripts" (essentially trying to clean-up what the automated transcripts provide).
Source: Multiple states, women executed, 1991, Undated Box 44 (2-Documentation of Executions), Folder 20, M. Watt Espy Papers, 1730-2008. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York
Methods of execution for females, 20th century
Alabama
Selena Gilmore, January 24, 1930, electrocution
Earle Dennison, September 4, 1953, electrocution
Rhonda Belle Martin, October 11, 1957, electrocution (last pre-Furman electrocution)
Arizona
Eva Dugan, February 21, 1930, hanging
CALIFORNIA
Ethel Leta Juanita Spinelli
Executed: November 22, 1941
Method: Gas
Notes: Executed at San Quentin. Often incorrectly dated November 21 in secondary sources.
Louise Linton Peete
Executed: April 11, 1947
Method: Gas
Notes: Known as “lovable Louise” in contemporary press.
Barbara Graham
Executed: June 3, 1955
Method: Gas
Notes: Case drew extraordinary public protest.
Elizabeth Ann Duncan
Executed: August 8, 1962
Method: Gas
Notes: Last woman executed in California; last pre-Furman female execution nationally.
Juanita (surname unknown)
Executed: 1851 (extrajudicial lynching)
Method: Lynching
Notes: Mexican woman; killed man attempting rape; lynched in Downieville. Not a judicial execution.
DELAWARE
Mary H. Carey
Executed: June 7, 1935
Method: Hanging
FEDERAL (Carried out in state facilities)
Bonnie Brown Heady
Executed: December 18, 1953
Method: Gas
Location: Missouri State Penitentiary
Notes: Federal kidnapping case (Greenlease).
GEORGIA
Lena Baker
Executed: March 5, 1945
Method: Electrocution
ILLINOIS
Marie Porter
Executed: January 28, 1938
Method: Electrocution
LOUISIANA
Ada Leboeuf
Executed: February 1, 1929
Method: Hanging
Julia Moore
Executed: February 8, 1935
Method: Hanging
Toni Jo Henry
Executed: November 28, 1942
Method: Electrocution
Notes: Executed in Louisiana’s portable electric chair.
MISSISSIPPI
Patti Perdue
Executed: January 13, 1922
Method: Hanging
Ann Knight
Executed: October 13, 1922
Method: Hanging
Mary Holmes
Executed: April 29, 1937
Method: Hanging
Mildred Louise Johnson
Executed: May 19, 1944
Method: Electrocution
Notes: Portable electric chair.
MISSOURI
Bonnie Brown Heady
Executed: December 18, 1953
Method: Gas
Notes: Federal case; listed above under Federal for clarity.
NEW YORK
Martha Place
Executed: March 20, 1899
Method: Electrocution
Notes: First woman executed by electricity.
Mary Farmer
Executed: March 29, 1909
Method: Electrocution
Notes: Often misspelled “Farner.”
Ruth Snyder
Executed: January 12, 1928
Method: Electrocution
Notes: Illicit photograph caused national scandal.
Anna Antonio
Executed: August 9, 1934
Method: Electrocution
page two – methods of execution of females in the 20th century
New York (continued)
Eva Coo, June 27, 1935, electrocuted
Mary Frances Creighton, July 16, 1936, electrocuted
Helen Fowler, November 16, 1944, electrocuted
Martha Jule Beck, March 8, 1951, electrocuted
Ethel Rosenberg (Federal), June 19, 1953, electrocuted
KENTUCKY (UNVERIFIED / PARTIALLY IDENTIFIED)
“Asrah” (surname unknown)
Executed: June 24, 1837 (scheduled)
Method: Hanging
Source: Baltimore Sun, June 19, 1837
Notes: Execution implied but needs confirmation; likely enslaved woman.
Significance: May correspond to vague reference in Maysville Eagle, April 1859.
SOUTH CAROLINA (NAME UNKNOWN)
Unnamed enslaved woman
Executed: August 25, 1843
Location: Laurens District
Method: Hanging
Notes: Executed alongside enslaved man “Randall” for murder of Mrs. Garrett.
Source: Baltimore Sun, September 4, 1843.
North Carolina
Rosanna Lightner Phillips, January 1, 1943, gassed
Bessie May Williams, December 29, 1944, gassed
Velma Margie Barfield, November 2, 1984, lethal injection (first post-Furman female executed)
Ohio
Anna Marie Hahn, December 7, 1938, electrocuted
Dovie Smarr Dean, January 15, 1954, electrocuted
Betty Butler, June 12, 1954, electrocuted
Oklahoma
Dora Wright, July 17, 1903, hanged
Pennsylvania
Irene Schroeder, February 23, 1931, electrocuted
Corrine Sykes, October 14, 1946, electrocuted
South Carolina
Sue Stidham Logan, January 15, 1943, electrocuted
Rose Marie Stinette, January 17, 1947, electrocuted
Texas
Karla Faye Tucker, February 3, 1998, lethal injection
Vermont
Mary Mabel Rogers, December 8, 1905, hanged
Virginia
Virginia Christian, August 16, 1912, electrocuted
His biographical materials, for obvious and practical reasons, are not uploaded. His diary, I hope, remains private unless his close friends and family deem it appropriate to make more widely available. As such, one can read, if inclined, at the archives.
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