CONTINUED WORLD INTEREST

FIRST ELECTRIC CHAIR EXECUTION

OF AN AMERICAN WOMAN

 

[Women]  [Capital Punishment]  [Place, Martha]  Meyer, H. (artist).   La Peine De Mort En Amerique Une Electrocution.   45-1/2 x 31-3/4 cm.   (17.9 x 12.5 inches).   Engraving in full original color and of folio size.   Removed.   Very good.   (Paris).   (Dimanche 9 Avril 1899).   $200.00   - - -   Appearing as the rear cover of the April 9^th, 1899 issue of Le Petit Journal, this engraving depicts Martha Place in a formal black gown strapped into an electric chair; to the left side a priest reads from a prayer book, to center rear two men are visible in the control room, apparently waiting to give the command for the first electrocution of an Amerian woman.   To the right side a woman stands, just to the rear left of Martha Place, watching a pocket watch.   Just a week before, Le Petit Parisien had carried as its front cover another view of this first.  Apparently, world interest was substantial enough to warrant this subsequent rendering.   The history of electrocution in the United States begins in 1773 with Benjamin Franklin's experiment with six Leyden jars “used to electrocute chickens, a ten pound turkey, and a lamb.”  -  Kane.  “The electric chair was first used at Auburn State Prison, New York, on August 6, 1890, and eventually became the preferred method of executing criminals in the United States.”  -  Encyclopaedia Britannica.   “The first execution via electric chair was carried out on William Kemmler in New York's Auburn Prison on August 6, 1890.”  -  Wikipedia.   An historic episode, this print depicts in chilling detail what was the first electrocution of a woman in the United States.   It was issued as the full-page front cover illustration of the popular newspaper supplement, Le Petit Parisien for 2 April 1899.   This capital punishment took place at Sing Sing Prison in New York State.   The woman executed, Martha Place, had murdered her daughter-in-law.   Within the paper is discussion of her last actions after waking the morning of the execution, the shaving of her head, the strength of the electrical charge, and her demeanor as she went to death.   “Martha Place was the first woman to die in the electric chair . . . March 20, 1899 . . . Place was strapped into the chair by a matron because Governor Theodore Roosevelt felt it would be immoral for men to perform that task.”  -  Brandon.  This is a most interesting piece for any exhibition dealing with capital punishment in the United States.   We offer here the complete eight page issue of the noted newspaper supplement (Numero 438).  Benezit, v. 1, pp. 612-613.   Craig Brandon's “The Electric Chair:  An Unnatural American History.”   Joseph Nathan Kane's “Famous First Facts: A Record Of First Happenings, Discoveries and Inventions in the United States,” p. 244. 

[Title:  The Death Penalty In America Electric Shock.]