Research Catalog

Title

Dancehall ladies : executed women of the 20th century / L. Kay Gillespie.

Author

Gillespie, L. Kay.

Publication

Lanham, MD : University Press of America, 2000.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xxv, 156 pages : illustrations; 23 cm

Subject

• Women prisoners > United States > Case studies
• Death row inmates > United States > Case studies
• Capital punishment > United States > Case studies

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

• Introduction: Lethal Injection - The Ultimate High. North Carolina: Velma Barfield - "When I go ... it's my gateway to Heaven." North Carolina: Bessie Mae Williams - "God has answered my prayers, I'm read now." North Carolina: Rosanna Phillips - "Deliver me from this gas chamber. I don't want no part of it." -- Pt. 1. Hanging - "Don't hang me high...for decency sake." Arizona: Eva Dugan - "I don't know where I'm going but I'm on my way." Vermont: Mary Rogers - "Moral Idiot" Louisiana: Ada LeBoeuf - "Sweet Pirogueing Mama" Louisiana: Julia Moore. Delaware: May Carey - "My way is clear; I have nothing else to say." Mississippi: Mary Holmes - "Torch Murderer" Comparison Case: Winnie Ruth Judd - "Trunk Slayer" -- Pt. 2. The Electric Chair - "This is a step forward in the cause of humanity." New York: Mary Farmer - "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, have mercy on my soul." New York: Ruth Snyder - "If there is a penitent in this world, I am that.".
• New York: Anna Antonio - "I am not afraid to die. I have nothing on my conscience." New York: Eva Coo - "I wish to God the men I know would help me now." New York: Mary Francis Creighton - "I'm tired, may be I can rest now." New York: Helen Fowler - "Black Helen," "Sugar Woman" New York: Martha Jule Beck - "I know my sin was great, but the penalty is great too." Alabama: Selina Gilmore - "I'm going home where the angels dwell." Alabama: Earle Dennison - "God has forgiven me for all I have done." Alabama: Rhonda Belle Martin - "I want my body ... given to some scientific institution...." Ohio: Anna Marie Hahn - "[D]on't do this to me... Can't you think of my baby?" Ohio: Blanche "Dovie" Dean - "[He] wanted a housekeeper and I wanted a home." Ohio: Betty Butler - "My work is done!" Pennsylvania: Irene Schroeder - "I am going to die...but I am not afraid." Pennsylvania: Corrine Sykes. South Carolina: Sue Logue - "I am ready to go." South Carolina: Rose Marie Stinette - "Root Doctor".
• Virginia: Virginia Christian - "I'm right much worried." Illinois: Marie Porter - "I hold no malice towards anyone." Louisiana: Toni Jo Henry - "The victim doesn't return to haunt me. I never think of him." Mississippi: Mildred Johnson. Georgia: Lena Baker. Comparison Cases: Effie Jowers - "Hammer Slayer"; Nannie Hazel Doss - "Arsenic Annie" -- Pt. 3. The Gas Chamber - "How in the hell would you know?" California: Juanita Spinelli - "My blood will burn holes in [your] bodies." California: Louise Peete - "There will be no screaming or hysterics. I am not built that way." California: Barbara Graham - "I am paying for a life of little sins." California: Elizabeth Duncan - "I am innocent. Where's Frank?" Comparison Case: Dr. Alice Wynekoop -- Pt. 4. Federal Executions of Women. Mary Surratt - "If I had two lives to give, I'd give one gladly to save Mrs. Surratt." Ethel Rosenberg - "Always remember that we were innocent and could not wrong our conscience.".
• Bonnie Brown Heady - "I'd rather die than be poor." Comparison Cases: Judith Coplon - "The Petticoat Spy"; Mildred Gillars - "Axis Sally" -- Pt. 5. The Last Two. Karla Faye Tucker - "Here she comes baby doll, she's all yours." Judi Buenoano - "Vaya con dios" Comparison Case: Guineveve (Guin) Garcia -- Pt. 6. Clemencies and Commutations -- Pt. 7. What Must a Woman Do to Be Executed? Mothers, Their Children and Their Crimes. Mothers While on Death Row. Mothers to the End.

ISBN

0761816690 (pbk. : alk. paper)

LCCN

00024138

OCLC

• 43465112
• ocm43465112
• SCSB-3883018

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries