One hundred and fifty-one people, one hundred and fifty male and one female, were executed in the United States in 1937, one hundred by electrocution, thirty-three by hanging, and eighteen by gas chamber. [1]
The last semipublic execution in the United States occurred this year, that being the execution of Roscoe Jackson.
| No. | Date of execution | Name | Age of person | Gender | Ethnicity | State | Method | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At execution | At offense | Age difference | ||||||||
| 1 | January 3, 1937 | Isaiah Opher Jr. | 36 | 36 | 0 | Male | Black | Delaware | Hanging | [2] | 
| 2 | January 4, 1937 | Jacob M. Gable | 21 | 19 | 2 | White | Pennsylvania | Electrocution | [3] | |
| 3 | January 7, 1937 | Theodore DiDonne | 31 | 30 | 1 | New York | [4] | |||
| 4 | Joseph Bolognia | 24 | 23 | |||||||
| 5 | January 8, 1937 | Frank Duarte | 22 | 2 | Hispanic | Arizona | Gas chamber | [5] | ||
| 6 | Joe Joven | 32 | 31 | 1 | Asian | California | Hanging | [6] | ||
| 7 | January 14, 1937 | Louis Lazar | 29 | 26 | 3 | White | New York | Electrocution | [7] | |
| 8 | January 15, 1937 | Louis R. Shaver | 53 | 51 | 2 | California | Hanging | [8] | ||
| 9 | Tommie Howard | 38 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | Louisiana | [9] | |||
| 10 | Johnnie Sanders | 20 | 19 | 1 | [1] | |||||
| 11 | January 20, 1937 | George Owens | 17 | 16 | Mississippi | [10] | ||||
| 12 | Joe Phillips | 16 | 15 | |||||||
| 13 | January 21, 1937 | Chester White | 33 | Unknown | Unknown | New York | Electrocution | [11] | ||
| 14 | John Fiorenza | 25 | 24 | 1 | White | |||||
| 15 | Charles Ham | 20 | 19 | Black | ||||||
| 16 | Frederick Fowler | 19 | 18 | |||||||
| 17 | January 22, 1937 | Natividad Valenzuela | 24 | 23 | 1 | Hispanic | California | Hanging | [12] | |
| 18 | January 26, 1937 | Luther Jones | 32 | 32 | 0 | White | Nevada | Gas chamber | [13] | |
| 19 | January 29, 1937 | Edgar Prude Skelton | 36 | Unknown | Unknown | Alabama | Electrocution | [14] | ||
| 20 | February 1, 1937 | Robert Dreamer | 40 | 30 | 10 | Pennsylvania | [15] | |||
| 21 | February 10, 1937 | James Joseph McElroy | 45 | 45 | 0 | Connecticut | [16] | |||
| 22 | February 11, 1937 | Alfred E. Volckmann Jr. | 21 | 19 | 2 | New York | [17] | |||
| 23 | February 19, 1937 | George B. Underwood | 23 | 22 | 1 | Kentucky | [18] | |||
| 24 | February 24, 1937 | Arthur Burden | 28 | 25 | 3 | Black | Georgia | [1] | ||
| 25 | February 26, 1937 | James Victor Franklin | 32 | Unknown | Unknown | White | Alabama | [19] | ||
| 26 | Allen Mitchell | Unknown | Unknown | Black | Illinois | [20] | ||||
| 27 | Rufo Swain | 27 | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 28 | Hurt Hardy Jr. | 32 | 30 | 2 | White | Missouri | Hanging | [21] | ||
| 29 | March 2, 1937 | Joseph Rappaport | 35 | 33 | Illinois | Electrocution | [22] | |||
| 30 | March 5, 1937 | James Turner | 24 | 23 | 1 | Black | Tennessee | [1] | ||
| 31 | March 12, 1937 | Chester Arkuszewski | White | Indiana | [23] | |||||
| 32 | March 15, 1937 | James Taylor | Black | Tennessee | [1] | |||||
| 33 | March 17, 1937 | Anderson Berry | 26 | 24 | 2 | |||||
| 34 | March 18, 1937 | Samuel Williams | 23 | 22 | 1 | Mississippi | Hanging | |||
| 35 | Tom Franklin | 20 | 19 | Tennessee | Electrocution | [24] | ||||
| 36 | March 19, 1937 | Sam Franklin | 24 | 22 | 2 | Kentucky | [25] | |||
| 37 | March 31, 1937 | Petronilo Pacren | 40 | 39 | 1 | Asian | California | Hanging | [26] | |
| 38 | April 2, 1937 | Fred Adams | 21 | 18 | 3 | White | Missouri | [27] | ||
| 39 | April 8, 1937 | Gus McCoig | 25 | 23 | 2 | Tennessee | Electrocution | [28] | ||
| 40 | April 9, 1937 | Ralph Eisenhardt | 21 | 19 | Louisiana | Hanging | [29] | |||
| 41 | Gladstone James | 24 | 22 | |||||||
| 42 | George McDuffie | 22 | 21 | 1 | Black | South Carolina | Electrocution | [30] | ||
| 43 | April 13, 1937 | Frank Pramera | 23 | Unknown | Unknown | White | West Virginia | Hanging | [1] | |
| 44 | April 16, 1937 | Fred Hart | 44 | 43 | 1 | California | [31] | |||
| 45 | Joseph Schuster | 30 | 29 | Illinois | Electrocution | [32] | ||||
| 46 | Stanley Murawski | 37 | 36 | |||||||
| 47 | Frank Matthew Whyte | 42 | 41 | |||||||
| 48 | Roy Wilburn Eatmon | 24 | 22 | 2 | Tennessee | [33] | ||||
| 49 | April 19, 1937 | James Burke | Black | Georgia | [34] | |||||
| 50 | April 23, 1937 | Clinton Medlock | 29 | 26 | 3 | Arkansas | [35] | |||
| 51 | John Homer Cummings | District of Columbia | [36] | |||||||
| 52 | Willett Marcus | 23 | 20 | |||||||
| 53 | Willie Walker | 34 | 34 | 0 | Florida | [37] | ||||
| 54 | April 29, 1937 | Mary Holmes | 35 | 1 | Female | Mississippi | Hanging | [38] | ||
| 55 | Selmon Brooks | 32 | 31 | Male | ||||||
| 56 | April 30, 1937 | Howard Lee Dunn | 24 | 23 | White | Tennessee | Electrocution | [39] | ||
| 57 | William Farmer | 19 | 18 | |||||||
| 58 | Elmer Pruitt | 24 | 21 | 3 | Black | Texas | [40] | |||
| 59 | May 3, 1937 | Andy Yacas | 52 | 51 | 1 | White | Pennsylvania | [41] | ||
| 60 | May 10, 1937 | Simee Lee Fields | 21 | 19 | 2 | Black | Florida | [42] | ||
| 61 | Marcus England | 36 | 35 | 1 | Pennsylvania | [43] | ||||
| 62 | Edward Shawell | 38 | 38 | 0 | ||||||
| 63 | May 14, 1937 | James Austin Jr. | 22 | 21 | 1 | Arkansas | [44] | |||
| 64 | John P. Goodman | 21 | Unknown | Unknown | Georgia | [1] | ||||
| 65 | May 19, 1937 | Stephen Kotowicz | 22 | 22 | 0 | White | Ohio | [45] | ||
| 66 | May 21, 1937 | Will Lacy | 41 | 39 | 2 | Black | Georgia | [46] | ||
| 67 | Eli C. Melton | 30 | 28 | White | ||||||
| 68 | Dudley Barr | 39 | 35 | 4 | Black | Missouri | Hanging | |||
| 69 | Roscoe Jackson | 36 | 33 | 3 | White | |||||
| 70 | May 24, 1937 | Leonard Brown | 18 | 17 | 1 | Black | Georgia | Electrocution | [1] | |
| 71 | May 28, 1937 | John Woods | 49 | 48 | California | Hanging | [47] | |||
| 72 | Mose Trammell | 36 | 35 | Georgia | Electrocution | [48] | ||||
| 73 | Lonnie Lee Joiner | 38 | 37 | White | Texas | [1] | ||||
| 74 | June 4, 1937 | Joseph Nelson | 36 | 36 | 0 | Black | Delaware | Hanging | [49] | |
| 75 | Augustus Dwight Beard | 27 | 26 | 1 | White | Texas | Electrocution | [50] | ||
| 76 | Wisie Ellison | 36 | 35 | Black | ||||||
| 77 | June 10, 1937 | William A. Kuhlman | 28 | 27 | White | Indiana | [51] | |||
| 78 | John Joseph Poholsky | 35 | 34 | |||||||
| 79 | Frank Gore Williams | 39 | 38 | |||||||
| 80 | Chew Wing | 32 | 31 | Asian | New York | [52] | ||||
| 81 | June 11, 1937 | Roosevelt Collins | 31 | 30 | Black | Alabama | [53] | |||
| 82 | William Gill | 28 | 27 | Louisiana | Hanging | [54] | ||||
| 83 | Robert Lucas | 27 | Unknown | Unknown | [1] | |||||
| 84 | Charles A. Sands | 22 | 20 | 2 | Native American | Oklahoma | Electrocution | [55] | ||
| 85 | Leon Siler | White | ||||||||
| 86 | June 14, 1937 | Willie Hopkins | 21 | 21 | 0 | Black | Georgia | [1] | ||
| 87 | June 18, 1937 | Edgar Rose | 27 | 26 | 1 | White | ||||
| 88 | James Worthy | 24 | 24 | 0 | Black | |||||
| 89 | June 25, 1937 | Charlie Young | 33 | Unknown | Unknown | |||||
| 90 | Willy Becker | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | White | West Virginia | Hanging | |||
| 91 | June 28, 1937 | Roy Crittenton | 36 | 34 | 2 | Black | Pennsylvania | Electrocution | [56] | |
| 92 | July 1, 1937 | Robert Jones | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Mississippi | Hanging | [1] | ||
| 93 | Harry Eisenberg | 43 | 42 | 1 | White | New York | Electrocution | [57] | ||
| 94 | Watson Edwards | 25 | 24 | |||||||
| 95 | Anthony Garlaus | 33 | 32 | |||||||
| 96 | July 2, 1937 | Clemens Konstantin Matura | 66 | 65 | Texas | [58] | ||||
| 97 | July 9, 1937 | John D. McNeill | 54 | 53 | California | Hanging | [59] | |||
| 98 | Mitchell Jackson | 27 | 27 | 0 | Black | Georgia | Electrocution | [60] | ||
| 99 | James Irvin Howard | 21 | 20 | 1 | Maryland | Hanging | [61] | |||
| 100 | Robert Glenn Brown | 19 | 18 | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [62] | ||||
| 101 | Earnest McCarty | Unknown | Unknown | Texas | Electrocution | [1] | ||||
| 102 | July 12, 1937 | Marcus C. Powell | 51 | 50 | 1 | White | Florida | [63] | ||
| 103 | Alexander Thweatt Meyer | 19 | 19 | 0 | Pennsylvania | [64] | ||||
| 104 | July 16, 1937 | Arnold Clift | 24 | 23 | 1 | Kentucky | [65] | |||
| 105 | Fred Steele | 22 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [66] | ||
| 106 | Sam Jones | 21 | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 107 | July 19, 1937 | Preston McDonald | 28 | 26 | 2 | Florida | Electrocution | [67] | ||
| 108 | Walter Williams | 38 | 36 | |||||||
| 109 | July 23, 1937 | Robert Hinds | 17 | 17 | 0 | [68] | ||||
| 110 | Fred Grey | 26 | Unknown | Unknown | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [69] | |||
| 111 | Hunter Winchester | 24 | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 112 | July 26, 1937 | John Becker | 38 | 37 | 1 | White | Pennsylvania | Electrocution | [70] | |
| 113 | July 30, 1937 | Willie E. Douberly | 25 | 24 | Georgia | [71] | ||||
| 114 | Thomas Perry | 23 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [72] | ||
| 115 | A.W. Watson | 21 | 20 | 1 | White | |||||
| 116 | George Washington Patton | 56 | 51 | 5 | Texas | Electrocution | [73] | |||
| 117 | August 5, 1937 | Solomon Mahoe | 32 | 30 | 2 | Pacific Islander | Hawaii Territory | Hanging | [74] | |
| 118 | August 6, 1937 | George Exum | 22 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [75] | |
| 119 | August 9, 1937 | Jimmie Lee Parrish | 35 | Unknown | Unknown | Tennessee | Electrocution | [76] | ||
| 120 | August 10, 1937 | Fred Ritchie | 32 | Unknown | Unknown | White | [1] | |||
| 121 | August 13, 1937 | Burt Anderson | 53 | 52 | 1 | Arizona | Gas chamber | [77] | ||
| 122 | Ernest Patten | 37 | 36 | Black | ||||||
| 123 | Francisco A. Aguilar | 34 | 33 | Hispanic | Colorado | [78] | ||||
| 124 | Lawrence R. Ward | 51 | 50 | White | Georgia | Electrocution | [79] | |||
| 125 | James McNeill | 21 | 19 | 2 | Black | North Carolina | [80] | |||
| 126 | Leroy McNeill | 18 | 17 | 1 | Gas chamber | |||||
| 127 | Perry Hampton Carroll | 37 | 35 | 2 | White | Wyoming | [81] | |||
| 128 | August 19, 1937 | Major Green | 34 | 33 | 1 | Black | New York | Electrocution | [82] | |
| 129 | August 20, 1937 | Furman McDonald | 44 | 42 | 2 | White | South Carolina | [83] | ||
| 130 | Luke Trammell Jr. | 28 | 27 | 1 | Texas | [84] | ||||
| 131 | Willie Leake | 30 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | Virginia | [85] | |||
| 132 | Lawrence Wyche | Unknown | Unknown | |||||||
| 133 | August 26, 1937 | Louis Apicello | 40 | 39 | 1 | White | New York | [86] | ||
| 134 | September 3, 1937 | Thomas Jefferson Hutto | 51 | 50 | Arkansas | [87] | ||||
| 135 | David Benjamin Knight | 33 | 31 | 2 | Arizona | Gas chamber | [88] | |||
| 136 | September 10, 1937 | Arthur Oliver | 46 | 43 | 3 | Alabama | Electrocution | [89] | ||
| 137 | Mervin Brown | 33 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | West Virginia | Hanging | [1] | ||
| 138 | September 17, 1937 | Raymond A. Fortune | 26 | 25 | 1 | White | Indiana | Electrocution | [90] | |
| 139 | September 24, 1937 | Marion Sandy Edwards | 63 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | Arkansas | [1] | ||
| 140 | September 29, 1937 | Clinton Pinson | 40 | 36 | 4 | Georgia | [91] | |||
| 141 | October 15, 1937 | Jessie Amos | 35 | Unknown | Unknown | Arkansas | [1] | |||
| 142 | Peter Chrisoulas | 40 | 39 | 1 | White | Illinois | [92] | |||
| 143 | November 5, 1937 | William Brown Read | 25 | 24 | West Virginia | Hanging | [93] | |||
| 144 | November 12, 1937 | Perry Marion | 28 | 27 | Kentucky | Electrocution | [94] | |||
| 145 | December 3, 1937 | Charles McGuire | 30 | 29 | California | Hanging | [95] | |||
| 146 | December 10, 1937 | Walter Caldwell | 37 | 37 | 0 | Black | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [1] | |
| 147 | William Clifton Perry | 17 | 17 | |||||||
| 148 | December 17, 1937 | John L. Montjoy Jr. | 23 | 21 | 2 | Kentucky | Hanging | [96] | ||
| 149 | J.H. Thompson | 67 | 65 | Ohio | Electrocution | [1] | ||||
| 150 | December 27, 1937 | Willie Frank Daniels | 25 | 24 | 1 | Georgia | ||||
| 151 | December 31, 1937 | John Winsor | Unknown | Unknown | Virginia | |||||
| Gender | ||
|---|---|---|
| Male | 150 | 99% | 
| Female | 1 | 1% | 
| Ethnicity | ||
| Black | 76 | 50% | 
| White | 67 | 44% | 
| Asian | 3 | 2% | 
| Hispanic | 3 | 2% | 
| Native American | 1 | 1% | 
| Pacific Islander | 1 | 1% | 
| State | ||
| Georgia | 16 | 11% | 
| New York | 14 | 9% | 
| North Carolina | 12 | 8% | 
| Tennessee | 10 | 7% | 
| California | 8 | 5% | 
| Pennsylvania | 8 | 5% | 
| Texas | 8 | 5% | 
| Illinois | 7 | 5% | 
| Florida | 6 | 4% | 
| Louisiana | 6 | 4% | 
| Mississippi | 6 | 4% | 
| Arkansas | 5 | 3% | 
| Indiana | 5 | 3% | 
| Kentucky | 5 | 3% | 
| Alabama | 4 | 3% | 
| Arizona | 4 | 3% | 
| Missouri | 4 | 3% | 
| West Virginia | 4 | 3% | 
| Virginia | 3 | 2% | 
| Delaware | 2 | 1% | 
| District of Columbia | 2 | 1% | 
| Ohio | 2 | 1% | 
| Oklahoma | 2 | 1% | 
| South Carolina | 2 | 1% | 
| Colorado | 1 | 1% | 
| Connecticut | 1 | 1% | 
| Hawaii Territory | 1 | 1% | 
| Maryland | 1 | 1% | 
| Nevada | 1 | 1% | 
| Wyoming | 1 | 1% | 
| Method | ||
| Electrocution | 100 | 66% | 
| Hanging | 33 | 22% | 
| Gas chamber | 18 | 12% | 
| Month | ||
| January | 19 | 13% | 
| February | 9 | 6% | 
| March | 9 | 6% | 
| April | 21 | 14% | 
| May | 15 | 10% | 
| June | 18 | 12% | 
| July | 25 | 17% | 
| August | 17 | 11% | 
| September | 7 | 5% | 
| October | 2 | 1% | 
| November | 2 | 1% | 
| December | 7 | 5% | 
| Age | ||
| Unknown | 2 | 1% | 
| 10–19 | 11 | 7% | 
| 20–29 | 66 | 44% | 
| 30–39 | 48 | 32% | 
| 40–49 | 13 | 9% | 
| 50–59 | 8 | 5% | 
| 60–69 | 3 | 2% | 
| Total | 151 | 100% | 
| Number of executions | |
|---|---|
| 1938 | 188 | 
| 1937 | 151 | 
| 1936 | 196 | 
| Total | 535 | 
| Preceded by 1936 | List of people executed in the United States in 1937 | Succeeded by 1938 |