Caryl Chessman on death row   Save
Joe Munroe Archive
Description: Joe Munroe photographs convicted rapist and robber Caryl Chessman as he pleads his case while on death row. Chessman was convicted of numerous robberies as well as rape and kidnapping in the 1960s. At the time, kidnapping was grounds for the death penalty in California. Chessman successfully appealed and delayed his execution date for 12 years--by far one of the longest such delays on record. In the end he was gassed to death on May 2, 1960. Joe Munroe's career began in 1939 at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He served in the Air Force during World War II and then joined Cincinnati-based Farm Quarterly magazine. Though raised in Detroit, agriculture became an important subject of Joe's photographs. He moved to California in 1955 and free-lanced, taking magazine assignments and selling his own work. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P400_B31_F2169_JPG300
Subjects: Joe Munroe; Death row; Criminal procedure; Appellate procedure;
Places: San Quentin (California)