Artefact: Old Sparky, which was used to execute 315 people in Ohio, will go on display at the history museum in Columbus for the first time in 80 years An electric chair called Old Sparky, a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood and a cage that mental patients used to be locked up in will go on display in a museum.The exhibit at Ohio's Historical Centre entitled 'Controversy: Pieces You Don't Normally See' is spotlighting the artefacts from the more provocative side of the state's history.Curator Sharon Dean said: 'History definitely isn't always pretty. 'The more we can stare some of things that aren't so pretty in the face, I think the more we can have honest, open discussions and start really working through some issues that, to date, have been fairly difficult.'Old Sparky was used to execute 312 men and three women between 1897 and 1963.The last time members of the general public could see the chair was when the old Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus offered tours, which ended in the early 1930s.
The prison sold postcards of the electric chair and souvenir pictures of the condemned men until it discontinued the tours.The chair replaced hanging in 1897 as Ohio's method of execution. According to the Columbus Dispatch, William Haas, 17, from Hamilton County, was the first to die in the hand-fashioned wood-and-steel chair. Donald Reinbolt, 29, of Columbus, was the last to be electrocuted, on March 15, 1963.The electric chair was replaced by lethal injection as the state's sole means of execution in 2001. It was donated to the Ohio Historical Society in 2002 and has been in storage since.Up close, the chair shows ominous signs of 66 years as the machinery of death. The wooden arms, gripped by hands of the condemned, and the cushioned headrest are well-worn. But the leather bands that circled prisoners' wrists and metal ones that bound their ankles look like new. Old Sparky: The wood and steel electric chair shows signs of wear and tear on the arm and head rest where inmates gripped on tightly before and during execution
Restrain: This wooden cage was used to store mental health patients in at the Longview State Mental facility during the 1800s. It is now on display at the Ohio Historical Centre in Columbus Ms Dean said: 'If you look closely, it does show signs of wear on it, that a lot of people have, in fact, sat in it. But it's been maintained very well.' Other pieces on display at the Columbus museum from April 1 until November 20 are a 150-year-old sheepskin condom found in the diary of a steamboat captain and an aluminium mitt used in the early 20th century to stop children from sucking their thumbs.The wooden cage used to hold state mental patients is from the late 1800s.Ms Dean said: 'It's a cage that was used for humans. The proper term was a crib-bed, and even at that time they found that it was a difficult restraint to use on people.'Children under 18 will be barred from visiting the exhibit unless accompanied by an adult. The items will be displayed with bare-bones identifying labels in a small room fitting not more than 20 people – to let the objects speak for themselves and to encourage visitors to talk about them, museum officials said.
Executive director of the Ohio Historical Society, Burt Logan, who oversees the historical centre, said: 'We think this is one of the attributes of this exhibit, to generate conversations about complex issues in Ohio's history."'History has a good side, which we often remember, and another side that we don't often see. We are not taking a stand of any type with this'These items represent part of the history of Ohio. purely an educational issue.'The museum usually sticks to more traditional exhibits and this R-Rated one is expected to draw a large crowd.Wheelchair Buying Guide imageWheelchairs are an important piece of equipment in doctor s offices, in hospitals, in shopping malls, and in many homes. Wheelchairs allow people to move from one place to another within a building or...Read More about Wheelchair Buying GuideEnter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. FREE Shipping on orders over $25. 615 Books & Media Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and . If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you increase your sales. We invite you to learn more about Fulfillment by Amazon Discover what to read next through the Amazon Book Review. Edison and the Electric Chair: A Story of Light and Death Available from these sellers. Thomas Edison was deeply concerned about public safety and stoutly opposed to capital punishment. Yet except for the rivalry with George Westinghouse, he would have remained a closet humanitarian. Or so historian of science Essig argues in his first book. The race between Edison, advocate of direct current (DC), and Westinghouse, champion of alternating current (AC), to build an electrical empire in the 1880s is a classic example of runaway Gilded Age capitalism.
Essig recounts Edison's early work on electricity and the opening of Manhattan's Pearl Street power plant in 1882. Just four years later, Westinghouse opened his own plant and quickly outpaced Edison in acquiring municipal contracts. Edison publicly decried AC as a safety hazard and convinced New York legislators that electricity offered the cleanest execution method available-provided it was done with AC. Thus in 1890 William Kemmler became the electric chair's first victim. He was not, however, the first victim of electrocution. Around this time, a spectacular series of fatal accidents triggered a citywide panic; and New York ordered unsafe wires cut down. Westinghouse protested while Edison applauded: DC cables were underground. Nonetheless, AC triumphed in the end. Whereas Essig recites the well-known history of public execution and follows the death-penalty debate into the 1990s, he passes over the opportunity to discuss the history of risk and regulation, leaving readers to deduce for themselves the significance of the "battle of the currents" for all citizens condemned to live-and die-in a modern technological nation.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. “A thoroughly modern view of Edison, removed from his pedestal.” ―The Washington Post Book World“. steeped in historical scholarship and written with sober elegance.” ―Newsday“Reads like a good novel.” ―The Economist“[An] engaging and meticulously researched book. Edison & the Electric Chair delivers a thrilling jolt of discovery.” ―Entertainment Weekly See all Editorial Reviews Browse the New York Times best sellers in popular categories like Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Books and more. Publisher: Walker Books (October 1, 2005) 5.5 x 1.1 x 8.2 inches Shipping Weight: 1 pounds Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,437,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) in Books > Science & Math > Physics > Electromagnetism > Electricity in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Scientists in Books > Engineering & Transportation > Engineering > Electrical & Electronics