The files on exe­cu­tions in America com­piled by not­ed his­to­ri­an M Watt Espy, Jr are to become part of the National Death Penalty Archive locat­ed at the State University of New York at Albany. The Espy col­lec­tion, enti­tled ​“Executions in America,” doc­u­ments more than 15,000 exe­cu­tions in the United states dat­ing back to 1608 and colo­nial Jamestown. Among the unique mate­ri­als are hand­writ­ten ledgers with an alpha­bet­i­cal list­ing of exe­cut­ed indi­vid­u­als by state and by date from the 1600’s through 1995 and over 1,000 books. This valu­able resource was col­lect­ed through Watt Espy’s per­son­al trav­el through­out the coun­try and his detailed and exten­sive labor on the project over many years.

The University at Albany’s National Death Penalty Archive was ini­ti­at­ed by the School of Criminal Justice’s Capital Punishment Research Initiative. They are host­ing an event on September 26 at the University to wel­come the col­lec­tion to their archive and acknowl­edg­ing the impor­tance of the new­ly acquired mate­ri­als and research. Among those who will be speak­ing are Charles Lanier, Director, University at Albany Capital Punishment Research Initiative; New York State Assemblymember John J. McEneny, 104th Assembly District; Michael Radelet, Chair, Sociology Department, University of Colorado; and William Bowers, Director, Capital Jury Project, University at Albany.

University of Albany’s National Death Penalty Archive ​“Executions in America” Event Program. Portions of the Espy File are avail­able on DPIC’s Web site: see Espy Files and History of the Death Penalty.

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