Chair, Electric - "Sparky II"
Object number2008.200.46
Date1990
Mediumwood, leather, and metal
Credit LineOld State House Museum Collection
DescriptionElectric Chair used by the Arkansas Department of Corrections.Execution by electrocution (usually referred to, after its method of implementation, as the Electric Chair) is an execution method originating in the United States in which the person being put to death is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body.
Historically, once the person was attached to the chair, various cycles (differing in voltage and duration) of alternating current would be passed through the condemned's body, in order to fatally damage the internal organs (including the brain). The first jolt of electrical current was designed to cause immediate unconsciousness and brain death; the second one was designed to cause fatal damage to the vital organs. Death was frequently caused by electrical overstimulation of the heart.
Electric chair used for execution of an inmate. Only one inmate was executed in this chair, John Swindler in 1990.
The chair was nicknamed "Sparky II"
Status
Not on viewCollections
