CREATOR:  Central Correctional Institution (S.C.)

 

TITLE:  Record of prisoners awaiting execution

 

DATE:  1938-1968

 

VOLUME:  1.00 cubic ft. and 0.01 microfilm reel

  

MEDIUM:  photographs

 

ARRANGEMENT:  Series arranged numerically by number assigned when prisoner was formally transferred to the Dept. of Corrections for execution of the death sentence.

 

SUMMARY SCOPE NOTE:  This series was used to record information concerning prisoners awaiting execution of the death sentence.  Beginning in 1912, all persons convicted of capital crimes and sentenced to death were to be transported to the State Penitentiary (Central Correctional Institution) in Columbia for death by electrocution.  Prisoners transferred to death row were assigned a unique number. 

 

The original records include a South Carolina State Penitentiary form, Federal Bureau of Investigation record, fingerprint card, mug shots, and a few photographs of burial.  The microfilm records primarily include only the South Carolina Penitentiary form which contains the prisoner's name, address, date and place of birth, height, weight, color of eyes and hair and complexion, as well as the county of trial, capital offence, presiding judge, date of sentencing, date set for execution, date of entry to death row, reprieves and stays of executions, and date of execution or change in sentence.  Additional information on disposition of remains may be found on some forms.  It is not known if similar files were kept prior to 1938.

 

A nationwide moratorium on capital punishment went into effect in 1962.  Prisoner number 350 (1965) was the last South Carolina prisoner placed on death row prior to the U.S. Supreme Court's 1972 ruling on the unconstitutionality of existing capital punishment statutes.

 

FINDING AID:  A partial index is available, covering prisoners 211 through 347 (1938-1962).  Record series S132109, Register of Prisoners Sentenced to Death, 1912-2004, also functions as a more complete index to these records.

 

ASSOCIATED MATERIAL:  A single volume, S132109 Register of Prisoners Sentenced to Death, 1912-2004, was kept as a central register of prisoners on death row and is available on microfilm in the repository.

 

GENERAL NOTE:  The original files cover prisoner numbers 211 through 265 and 267 through 347.  The microfilm records cover prisoner numbers 211 through 350.

 

LINKING NOTE:   A separate record, entitled Agency history record, has been written for the Department of Corrections, describing the functions and history of the agency.

 

HIERARCHICAL NOTE:  Forms part of the records of the Central Correctional Institution of the Department of Corrections.