[Electrocution of Ruth Snyder, Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York]

1928

Not on view

In spite of the universal ban on cameras in American death chambers, news editors have long recognized the public’s hunger for eyewitness images of high-profile executions. In January 1928 Tom Howard made tabloid history when he photographed, using a miniature camera strapped to his ankle, the electrocution of the convicted murderer Ruth Snyder at Sing Sing prison in Ossining, New York. The sensational picture ran under banner headlines on the front page of the New York Daily News two days in a row.

Artwork Details

Title: [Electrocution of Ruth Snyder, Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York]
Artist: Tom Howard (American, 1894–1961)
Date: 1928
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: 24 x 19.3 cm (9 7/16 x 7 5/8 in.)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Twentieth-Century Photography Fund, 2008
Object Number: 2008.135
Rights and Reproduction: © The New York Daily News Archive / Getty Images
Curatorial Department: Photographs

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