| LC control no. | n 93089247 |
|---|---|
| Descriptive conventions | rda |
| Personal name heading | Bethea, Rainey, -1936 |
| Variant(s) | Bethea, Rainey, d. 1936 |
| Associated country | United States |
| Birth date | 1913-10-16 |
| Death date | 1936-08-14 |
| Place of birth | Roanoke (Va.) |
| Place of death | Owensboro (Ky.) |
| Profession or occupation | Criminals |
| Found in | Ryan, P.T. The last public execution in America, c1992: pref. (Rainey Bethea) p. 18 (stated he was born Oct. 16; he claimed various years for his birth, which ranged from 1909 to 1913, none of which has been verified) p. 172 (d. 08-14-36) African American National Biography, accessed April 24, 2015, via Oxford African American Studies Center database: (Bethea, Rainey; Joseph Rainey Bethea; cause celebre; born 16 October 1913 in Roanoke, Virginia, United States; barely literate; hardly knew his parents; began doing odd jobs for a white family, in whose basement he lived for a couple of years (1933); turned to a life of petty crime and began drinking heavily; was sentenced to one year at the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville, but was released on parole (1935); burgled a white widow's home (7 June 1936), raped her and she subsequently died from the assault; was condemned to hang (31 July 1936); his public hanging was set for the Daviess County courthouse (14 August 1936); his case became a national cause célèbre; the controversy surrounding his hanging persuaded Kentucky to join the rest of the country in abolishing public executions; died 14 August 1936 in Owensboro, Kentucky, United States) |
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