Tells the tale of Nellie May Madison, the first woman on Death Row in California. This story offers a glimpse into law and disorder in 1930s Los Angeles and presents a remarkable character whose plight focuses on the status of women, the workings of the media and the judiciary system, and the stratification of society in her time.
Kathleen A. Cairns is a lecturer in the Department of History at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She is the author of Front-Page Women Journalists, 1920¿1950 (Nebraska 2003).
