Fifty people, all male, were executed in the United States in 1959, forty by electrocution, nine by gas chamber, and one by hanging.
The state of West Virginia would conduct its final execution this year, before abolishing capital punishment in 1965. Leonard Shockley became the last juvenile to be executed in the United States. John E. Day, who was executed by the military for murdering a South Korean civilian during the Korean War, remains the last American to be executed for war crimes by his own country.
List of people executed in the United States in 1959 Date of execution Name Age of person Gender Ethnicity State Method At execution At offense Age difference 1 January 12, 1959 25 23 2MaleBlack FloridaElectrocution 2 January 19, 1959 35 32 3 3 February 2, 1959 36 33 White 4 February 4, 1959 35 1Black Texas 5 February 6, 1959 54 53 Georgia 6 February 27, 1959 25 21 4 White CaliforniaGas chamber 7 March 7, 1959 41 39 2 Black Arizona 8 April 3, 1959 White West Virginia Electrocution 9 April 10, 1959 17 16 1 Black Maryland Gas chamber 10 April 13, 1959 23 22 White Pennsylvania Electrocution 11April 24, 1959 24 23 Virginia 12 56 55 Black 13 May 4, 1959 36 26 10 Pennsylvania 14May 22, 1959 33 29 4White California Gas chamber 15 31 28 3 New YorkElectrocution 16 May 28, 1959 28 26 2Black Texas 17 May 29, 1959 31 5 California Gas chamber 18June 1, 1959 58 55 3 WhiteFloridaElectrocution 19 44 42 2Black 20 28 27 1 21 June 5, 1959 36 35 Georgia 22 June 15, 1959 33 32 White Tennessee 23 June 24, 1959 23 20 3 Black Maryland Gas chamber 24 June 25, 1959 20 19 1White Nebraska Electrocution 25 June 26, 1959 26 24 2 California Gas chamber 26 July 3, 1959 42 40 OhioElectrocution 27July 16, 1959 24 22 BlackNew York 28 23 21 29 July 23, 1959 52 49 3 30 July 24, 1959 19 18 1 Arkansas 31 August 4, 1959 42 41 Texas 32 August 7, 1959 23 22 Georgia 33 August 21, 1959 35 32 3 White California Gas chamber 34August 28, 1959 49 47 2BlackFloridaElectrocution 35 20 18 36 September 18, 1959 31 29 White California Gas chamber 37 September 20, 1959 41 38 3 Connecticut Electrocution 38 September 23, 1959 30 21 9Black U.S. military Hanging 39 September 25, 1959 56 53 3ArkansasElectrocution 40October 2, 1959 40 39 1 41 52 50 2 42October 23, 1959 25 24 1 43 44 43 44 October 26, 1959 42 34 8 White Connecticut 45 October 28, 1959 22 20 2Black Pennsylvania 46November 13, 1959 21 1Florida 47 24 Unknown Unknown 48 December 4, 1959 25 24 1Alabama 49 December 11, 1959 26 25 White 50 December 18, 1959 25 Unknown Unknown Black Georgia
Demographics Gender Male 50 Female 0 Ethnicity Black 33 White 17 State Florida 10 Arkansas 6 California 6 Georgia 4 New York 4 Pennsylvania 3 Texas 3 Alabama 2 Connecticut 2 Maryland 2 Virginia 2 Arizona 1 Nebraska 1 Ohio 1 Tennessee 1 U.S. military 1 West Virginia 1 Method Electrocution 40 Gas chamber 9 Hanging 1 Month January 2 February 4 March 1 April 5 May 5 June 8 July 5 August 5 September 4 October 6 November 2 December 3 Age 10–19 2 20–29 20 30–39 12 40–49 10 50–59 6 Total 50 100%
Executions in recent years Number of executions 1960 56 1959 50 1958 50 Total 156
References