List of people executed in the United States in 1939

One hundred and sixty-two people, all male, were executed in the United States in 1939, one hundred and eighteen by electrocution, thirty by gas chamber, and fourteen by hanging.

The state of New Hampshire would conduct its most recent execution this year.

Joe Arridy, a severely intellectually disabled man, was controversially executed in Colorado despite strong doubt about his guilt. He was posthumously pardoned in 2011.

List of people executed in the United States in 1939 Date of execution Name Age of person Gender Ethnicity State Method At execution At offense Age difference 1January 5, 1939 29 28 1MaleWhiteNew YorkElectrocution 2 3 Black 4 January 6, 1939 23 21 2 Arab Colorado Gas chamber 5 January 11, 1939 30 29 1White TennesseeElectrocution 6 January 12, 1939 20 18 2 New York 7 January 17, 1939 46 45 1 Nevada Gas chamber 8 January 19, 1939 Unknown Unknown Black Tennessee Electrocution 9January 20, 1939 24 23 North CarolinaGas chamber 10 28 27 White Oregon 11 23 22 Black VirginiaElectrocution 12 January 25, 1939 20 18 2 Georgia 13January 26, 1939 21 20 1WhiteNew York 14 19 18 15 23 22 16 February 1, 1939 25 24 Ohio 17 February 3, 1939 38 36 2 Black District of Columbia 18 February 9, 1939 42 41 1White New York 19February 10, 1939 29 24 5 Kentucky 20 37 36 1 Mississippi Hanging 21 27 27 0 Black Virginia Electrocution 22 February 15, 1939 62 59 3White Missouri Gas chamber 23February 16, 1939 33 24 9New YorkElectrocution 24 23 22 1 25February 17, 1939 24 Unknown UnknownBlack Alabama 26 22 2 Louisiana Hanging 27 February 20, 1939 53 52 1White FloridaElectrocution 28 February 23, 1939 27 26 New York 29 February 24, 1939 22 22 0 Florida 30 February 27, 1939 41 39 2 Black Pennsylvania 31March 3, 1939 23 21 WhiteKentucky 32 22 20 33 33 33 0 Ohio 34 March 6, 1939 18 17 1 Black Texas 35March 10, 1939 37 36 White Arkansas 36 47 Unknown Unknown Maryland Hanging 37March 17, 1939 33 Unknown UnknownBlackAlabamaElectrocution 38 22 21 1 39March 24, 1939 47 45 2 Kentucky 40 20 18 WhiteSouth Carolina 41 24 23 1 42 30 28 2 43 42 40 44 29 27 45 28 1 46 March 27, 1939 26 23 3 Pennsylvania 47March 28, 1939 22 21 1BlackTennessee 48 19 18 49 March 31, 1939 33 33 0 Louisiana Hanging 50 April 4, 1939 22 21 1 Tennessee Electrocution 51April 7, 1939 24 23 North CarolinaGas chamber 52 38 37 53 25 23 2 VirginiaElectrocution 54April 10, 1939 43 42 1 WhiteTennessee 55 39 38Black 56 40 38 2 57 19 18 1 Texas 58 April 11, 1939 52 502 White South Carolina 59April 14, 1939 28 Unknown Unknown Black Alabama 60 36 36 0 White Illinois 61April 15, 1939 33 31 2 Black Tennessee 62 48 47 1 Hispanic Texas 63April 19, 1939 37 35 2WhiteOhio 64 29 27 65 56 54 66April 23, 1939 23 22 1 HispanicTexas 67 22 20 2 Black 68 April 24, 1939 21 1White Pennsylvania 69 April 26, 1939 48 47 Ohio 70April 28, 1939 27 26 ArizonaGas chamber 71 23 21 2 Missouri 72 May 5, 1939 38 37 1Black North Carolina 73 May 7, 1939 20 19 TexasElectrocution 74 May 9, 1939 54 54 0 White Ohio 75 May 12, 1939 30 27 3Black Florida 76May 19, 1939 18 18 0Arkansas 77 35 34 1 White 78 38 Unknown UnknownBlackTexas 79 May 21, 1939 30 27 3 80 May 26, 1939 21 Unknown Unknown North Carolina Gas chamber 81 June 3, 1939 26 25 1 White IndianaElectrocution 82June 9, 1939 33 Unknown UnknownBlackAlabama 83 51 Unknown Unknown 84 23 Unknown Unknown 85 22 21 1 86 47 46 North Carolina Gas chamber 87 June 14, 1939 23 21 2 OhioElectrocution 88June 16, 1939 19 18 1 Illinois 89 Unknown Unknown 2 North Carolina Gas chamber 90June 23, 1939 36 35 1 White GeorgiaElectrocution 91 20 18 2Black Indiana 92 40 39 1 South Carolina 93 June 26, 1939 26 25 Texas 94June 30, 1939 23 25 5Arkansas 95 25 20 96 20 0 97 32 32 Texas 98July 7, 1939 37 37 Alabama 99 25 Unknown Unknown Georgia 100 20 19 1 White Kentucky 101 24 24 0 Native AmericanNorth CarolinaGas chamber 102 20 19 1Black 103 23 22 104 July 12, 1939 18 17 Asian OhioElectrocution 105July 14, 1939 41 40 White Kentucky 106 33 31 2 New Hampshire Hanging 107July 21, 1939 25 24 1 California Gas chamber 108 47 46 KentuckyElectrocution 109 July 25, 1939 26 26 0 Black 110 July 26, 1939 35 34 1White Georgia 111 July 28, 1939 34 33 South Carolina 112August 2, 1939 22 21 Massachusetts 113 19 18 114August 4, 1939 25 24 Black Georgia 115 48 46 2White Washington Hanging 116 August 16, 1939 31 30 1 IndianaElectrocution 117August 18, 1939 23 Unknown UnknownBlack Alabama 118 27 27 0 Arkansas 119 August 24, 1939 24 22 2 New York 120 August 28, 1939 26 24 White Tennessee 121 September 1, 1939 25 23 Black North Carolina Gas chamber 122 September 4, 1939 20 20 0White Florida Electrocution 123 September 8, 1939 25 21 4California Hanging 124September 15, 1939 57 56 1 Gas chamber 125 39 37 2WashingtonHanging 126 September 18, 1939 19 18 1 127September 22, 1939 22 Unknown Unknown Black ArizonaGas chamber 128 21 20 1 White North Carolina 129September 29, 1939 33 31 2 BlackColorado 130 41 Unknown Unknown White 131 36 35 1Black Georgia Electrocution 132October 6, 1939 26 35 North Carolina Gas chamber 133 19 18 White Washington Hanging 134 October 13, 1939 35 24 11 Illinois Electrocution 135 October 20, 1939 39 38 1 Black California Gas chamber 136October 23, 1939 42 39 3 WhitePennsylvaniaElectrocution 137 36 32 4Black 138 21 20 1 139 October 24, 1939 51 50 White South Carolina 140 October 25, 1939 47 45 2 Ohio 141October 27, 1939 28 25 3Black Illinois 142 19 19 0North CarolinaGas chamber 143 October 28, 1939 22 21 1 144October 30, 1939 19 18 PennsylvaniaElectrocution 145 31 30 146 November 10, 1939 38 37 Native American Federal government Hanging 147 November 17, 1939 45 44 BlackGeorgiaElectrocution 148November 21, 1939 19 Unknown Unknown 149 43 42 1 White NevadaGas chamber 150 November 24, 1939 20 19 Black North Carolina 151 December 8, 1939 54 52 2White Washington Hanging 152 December 9, 1939 28 27 1 Colorado Gas chamber 153December 15, 1939 Unknown Unknown 3Black Mississippi Hanging 154 27 27 0 VirginiaElectrocution 155 December 16, 1939 24 23 1 Hispanic Texas 156December 18, 1939 25 25 0BlackPennsylvania 157 22 22 158 December 19, 1939 42 38 4 Texas 159December 21, 1939 53 52 1 WhiteNew York 160 41 Unknown Unknown Black 161 54 53 1White 162 December 30, 1939 52 2 Montana Hanging

Demographics Gender Male 162 Female 0 Ethnicity Black 80 White 75 Hispanic 3 Native American 2 Arab 1 Asian 1 State North Carolina 16 New York 15 Texas 12 Alabama 10 Ohio 10 Pennsylvania 10 South Carolina 10 Tennessee 10 Georgia 8 Kentucky 8 Arkansas 7 Washington 5 California 4 Colorado 4 Florida 4 Illinois 4 Virginia 4 Indiana 3 Arizona 2 Louisiana 2 Massachusetts 2 Mississippi 2 Missouri 2 Nevada 2 District of Columbia 1 Federal government 1 Maryland 1 Montana 1 New Hampshire 1 Oregon 1 Method Electrocution 118 Gas chamber 30 Hanging 14 Month January 15 February 15 March 19 April 22 May 9 June 17 July 14 August 9 September 11 October 14 November 5 December 12 Age Unknown 3 10–19 13 20–29 77 30–39 35 40–49 22 50–59 11 60–69 1 Total 162 100%

Executions in recent years Number of executions 1940 124 1939 162 1938 188 Total 474

References