Electric Chair Helmet
This helmet, composed of leather, sponge, and wire mesh, was essentially the weapon that Massachusetts state prison executioners used to end the lives of 65 men and women between the years 1901 and 1947. Ten years after the first person was put to death via the electric chair in Auburn, NY, the chair was adopted by the Massachusetts prison system in 1900 to carry out executions.
Arguably the most famous event in the history of death by electrocution occurred on August 23, 1927 in a state prison located in Charlestown, MA. A jury had convicted Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti of murder and robbery in 1921, but a long struggle to save their lives postponed their deaths for six more years. The two men's trial took place in an era of widespread discrimination against immigrants and radical thinkers, and Sacco and Vanzetti happened to fit both of these descriptions. Some people keeping track of the case were convinced that they were on trial due to their nationality and political views--not because substantial evidence confirmed the charges filed against them. The men appealed their case a number of times, and another man even admitted to committing the crime, but their luck had run out. Sacco and Vanzetti were sentenced to death by electric chair, and they both wore this helmet.
When a criminal is sent to be electrocuted, the person's head and legs are shaved. Their eyebrows and facial hair may also be trimmed off to reduce the odds of the prisoner catching fire. Once the prisoner is fastened into the chair, a sponge dipped in saline solution is laid on top of their head to encourage conductivity. A single electrode is affixed to the head, and another is connected to a leg to complete the closed circuit. The prisoner receives a jolt of current at least twice, and the length and intensity of it depends on that person's physical condition. Generally, the first surge of approximately 2,000 volts lasts for as many as 15 seconds. This usually causes unconsciousness and halts the victim's pulse. Next, the voltage is turned down. At this point, the prisoner's body can reach 138°F, and the uninterrupted current causes irrevocable damage to internal organs. As one might expect, the skin is burned, and prison employees are forced to peel the dead skin from the electrodes.
After close to 50 years of use, the state finally put the electric chair to rest along with the death penalty; 1947 was the final year anyone died as a result of capital punishment in the State of Massachusetts.
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